User-Friendly Finite Element Analysis Software for Analysis of Curved-Steel I-Girder Bridges

The design of curved I-girders is complicated because of the many performance stages that must be evaluated, including erection, construction, and in service. Evaluation of girder stability during early stages of construction is particularly complicated because of the limited presence of bracing. In addition to stability issues during girder lifting, guidelines for the necessity of shore towers during erection are not available. The Texas Department of Transportation funded a research project to investigate girder stability during early stages of construction. Results from this project will be used to develop guidelines for evaluating girder stability during early construction stages as well as to proportion the girder cross sections for safe and economic construction. The research includes field monitoring, a parametric study using finite element analysis (FEA), and development of user-friendly finite element analytic software that will serve as a tool for designers. This paper summarizes the development of an analysis tool as part of the UT Bridge research project, which provides engineers with a three-dimensional FEA of plate girder bridges during erection and concrete deck placement. The software provides a user-friendly preprocessor to guide input and a three-dimensional visual postprocessor output. UT Bridge performs a linear elastic or eigenvalue buckling analysis for a curved or straight bridge's defined construction procedure and is available free from the website of the University of Texas at Austin Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory.