Influence of Bridge Vehicle Interaction on the bridge’s subsystems considering road roughness

The evident advances of computational power of digital computers and their use in structural engineering enable advanced modelling and analysis of structures. Modelling demands compatible representation of the different subsystems and their interaction, such subsystems are the loading, the superstructure, the substructure and the bearings in bridge engineering. Therefore, models of the dynamic interaction between heavy vehicles and highway bridges taking into account the road roughness are of interest. The influence of this interaction (coupling) on the bridge’s subsystems is under study. Such topic is of necessity to the bridge required maintenance and determination of appropriate load models corresponding to the effects of the dynamics of the bridge-vehicle interaction.

This paper describes the bridge-vehicle interaction modeling and its effect on the bridge superstructure and substructure. The study is carried out by the assessment of the dynamic amplification factors calculated from different measures, deflection, strain and stress and the assessment of loading history of the bridge’s piers.