Concrete U Girder Bridge Workflow

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Concrete U Girder Bridge workflow enables you to:

• Generate a 3D model of a Concrete U Girder Bridge, incorporating both substructure and superstructure parametrically, and export it to dgn/dxf/ifc files.

• Create a parametric FEA model.

• Apply loads for FEA:

  • Wind Load on Structure from various attack angles, based on AASHTO specifications. Users do not need to modify wind load data when the structure's geometry changes. They only need to enter gust effect factor, drag coefficients, surface roughness, and design wind speed. OpenBrIM Wind Load Library automatically calculates nodal loads based on these inputs and the structure's geometry for different attack angles.

  • Wind load on live load from various attack angles based on AASHTO specifications.

  • Influence surface-based braking/centrifugal/live loads, including HL93, Legal Truck, Permit Trucks, etc. Users can also define custom trucks.

  • Temperature loads.

  • Surface/Line/Point loads on different structural elements.

  • Tendon stressing for substructure components.

  • Moving construction loads.

  • Dynamic loads.

  • Pushover loads.

• Create Staged Construction Model:

  • Girder erection sequence.

  • Construct diaphragms at splice locations to make girders continuous.

  • Deck pouring sequence in transverse and longitudinal directions.

  • Stress prestressing and post-tensioned tendons.

  • Deconstruct deck/girder/substructure/barrier for rehabilitation projects in transverse and longitudinal directions.

  • Add/remove temporary supports.

• Run time-dependent staged construction analysis in your web browser.

  • OpenBrIM.FEA considers the non-composite and composite states of girders based on user-defined definitions during the construction stages.

  • OpenBrIM.FEA calculates both short-term losses (such as anchor set, wobble coefficient, and curvature friction of tendons) and long-term losses (including elastic shortening, creep-shrinkage, and relaxation) of tendons.

  • OpenBrIM.FEA supports influence surface-based live load analysis. Influence coefficients are generated after capturing the structure's stiffness at that particular stage. This feature is helpful for rehabilitation projects where the structure's stiffness changes at different stages and the bridge is open to traffic. Critical vehicle placement follows AASHTO rules, considering factors like multiple presence, impact factor, and minimum back-to-front axle spacing. Critical transverse lane placement is automatically done by OpenBrIM, and the user only defines the roadway.

• View time-dependent staged construction analysis results in your web browser.

  • Examine the results of each stage, observing both the incremental and cumulative effects. You can filter the results at each stage based on their load type.

  • Visualize deflections graphically and access them in spreadsheet format.

  • Review combination results for various limit states.

  • Access composite results, which are crucial when dealing with composite girders consisting of multiple elements. These results allow for the combination of forces at the center of gravity of the composite section.

  • Analyze stress distributions.

  • Visualize the precise location of the critical vehicle for each result for the influence surface based live load analysis.

• Export the finite element model to LARSA 4D, CSI Bridge, or Midas software to compare the results with those obtained from OpenBrIM.FEA.

• Design substructure and superstructure components according to AASHTO 9th Edition and DOT amendments. The following components are supported for design:

  • Concrete U Girder

  • Pier Caps

  • Pier Columns

  • Pier Footings

  • Piles

  • Drilled Shafts

• Load Rate Concrete U Girder according to AASHTO 9th Edition and Manual For Bridge Evaluation.

• In your summary report, you can access additional reports for the following items:

  • Quantity Report

  • Seat Elevation Table

  • Slab Elevation Table

  • Project Inputs

  • Vertical Clearance Report

• Generate parametric 2D drawings from your model and export to dgn or dxf. You can link the exported drawings to your project-wise folder and add additional annotations, among other things, using Microstation.

   

With this workflow, whenever you modify a bridge component parameter or alignment, all associated results/reports will be automatically updated, and you can view them within minutes. This showcases the power of parametric bridge engineering in the OpenBrIM Platform.

Please refer to the following pages to understand the meaning of each parameter for each bridge component and define them accordingly.