Traffic induced vibration analysis of existing steel bridge in Padeniya-Anuradhapura Road

Abstract

The Bridge which is located in Padeniya-Abstract: Anuradhapura road is a steel truss bridge with three spans of approximately 31m long. It is currently undergoing a development process which includes constructing a new cantilever pedestrian walkway of 1.5m in length of either side of the bridge. Because of this proposed cantilever foot walk static as well as dynamic loading will be changed. In order to ensure that the structure is safe under the additional loads, structural analysis was carried out for static condition as well as for dynamic condition to check the adequacy of structural elements.Analyses of the bridge under static and dynamic loading were done by the finite element (FE) method. The bridge model is such that the structural steel is idealized by beam elements and the deck is represented by shear flexible shell elements. The support with elastomeric bearings is idealized by using an internal element with linear springs. Modelling was carried out using commercial FE software package SAP2000. Based on the results of finite element analysis this paper suggests the effectiveness of using elastomeric bearings for enhancing vibration serviceability hence expanding life span of steel truss bridges.