Análisis normativo de la variación uniforme de la temperatura en puentes. Comparación de la normativa española con el Eurocódigo de acciones térmicas

Normative analysis of the uniform temperature component in bridges. Comparison between the spanish codes and the Eurocode of thermal actions

This article resumes the historical background of the Spanish codes of thermal actions, and compares the results of applying the previous "Code of actions for road bridges" (IAP-98), published in 1998, with the Eurocode of Thermal Actions, which has been the base for the new code IAP-11. As it will show in this paper, the results obtained by using the Spanish design provisions of IAP-98 (in force until recently), brings to unsafe results for the uniform temperature variation on concrete, steel, or composite (concrete-steel) bridge decks and below the ones obtained applying Eurocode. This fact has been contrasted with the results of the instrumentation on a series of bridges, and it has permitted the final adoption of the thermal actions of Eurocode in the new Spanish code IAP-11.