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Brace Forces in Steel Box Girders with Single Diagonal Lateral Bracing Systems
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Kyungsik Kim
Cheongju University
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Abstract: Trapezoidal steel box girders 共also known as tub girders兲 may be at their critical stage during construction because the
noncomposite steel section must support both the wet concrete and the entire construction load. A lateral bracing system is usually
installed at the top flange level to form a quasi-closed box, thereby increasing the torsional stiffness during construction. Typical lateral
bracing includes a single-diagonal type 共SD type兲 and a crossed-diagonal type 共XD type兲. The brace forces in box girders with XD type
lateral bracing systems can now be estimated with good accuracy. In some horizontally curved box girders with SD-type systems,
substantial axial forces, possibly up to 35% of the total force, are developed in struts due to induced torsion and distortion, which are
neglected in previous studies. In this study, analytical equations were formulated to compute the brace forces developed in bracing
members by taking into account bending and torsional actions of tub girders with SD-type lateral bracing systems. Brace forces in both
diagonals and struts can be estimated by these new equations more accurately than with the previous procedures. Member forces due to
bending and torsion computed using the new equations were compared with those evaluated by three-dimensional finite element analyses,
and excellent correlation was found.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲0733-9445共2006兲132:8共1212兲
CE Database subject headings: Box girders; Steel; Bracing; Stiffness.
Introduction zontal top truss, is usually installed at the top flange level to form
a quasi-closed section, thereby increasing the torsional stiffness
Steel box girder systems have long been preferred superstructure during transport, erection, and construction. Single-diagonal
types for both horizontally curved and straight bridges because of 共SD-type兲 or crossed-diagonal 共XD-type兲 bracing systems are
their structural and aesthetic advantages. A closed box girder in a typically used for a lateral bracing system and are shown in
completed bridge has a superb torsional stiffness that may be 100 Fig. 2. SD-type lateral bracing systems show a noteworthy char-
to more than 1,000 times that of a comparable I-girder 共Heins and acteristic behavior that is not exhibited in XD-type lateral bracing
Hall 1981兲. This large torsional stiffness makes box girders par- systems: Top flanges of box girders with SD types are subjected
ticularly well suited for horizontally curved box girder bridges, in to lateral bending, similar to that of continuous beams with inter-
which the bridge geometry may induce large torsional moments mittent supports, due to the interaction between top flanges and
in the girders. A typical box girder bridge system consists of one lateral bracing members. Since there are diagonals at both ends of
or more steel tub girders that act compositely with a cast-in-place a strut in an XD-type bracing, the strut forces do not cause lateral
concrete roadway deck. A schematic of a typical twin-girder bending in the flanges. Although rudimentary research results
bridge cross-section is shown in Fig. 1. have been reported 共Heins and Hall 1981; AASHTO 1993兲, Fan
Although the composite box section has a superb torsional and Helwig 共1999, 2002兲 are believed to be the first to make a
rigidity, the noncomposite steel section is critical when subjected significant contribution to our understanding of the mechanisms
to large torsional loading during the early stages of bridge con- involved in lateral bracing systems and internal cross frames.
struction prior to hardening of the concrete deck. The noncom- They successfully presented analytical methods that can be used
posite dead load stress may account for up to 60–70% of the total to estimate the brace forces in both SD-type and XD-type lateral
stress for a typical box girder bridge 共Topkaya and Williamson bracing systems of box girders subjected to vertical loads and/or
2003兲. A lateral bracing system, sometimes referred to as a hori- applied torque. According to the equations given by Fan and
Helwig 共1999兲, strut forces are assumed to be induced only by the
1
Research Engineer, GS Engineering & Construction, Seoul, Korea; bending of the box girder and its lateral force components due
formerly, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Auburn Univ., to the inclined webs, regardless of whether it is an SD-type or
Auburn, AL 36849-5337. XD-type lateral bracing system. It is reasonable to assume that
2
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Auburn Univ., Auburn, AL strut forces are induced only by the bending of the box girder and
36849-5337 共corresponding author兲. E-mail: chyoo@eng.auburn.edu its lateral force components in all XD-type lateral bracing sys-
Note. Associate Editor: Donald W. White. Discussion open until tems, but in the case of an SD-type lateral bracing system, a
January 1, 2007. Separate discussions must be submitted for individual considerable portion of the strut force developed is induced by the
papers. To extend the closing date by one month, a written request must
torsional moment. In addition to the torsional effect, brace forces
be filed with the ASCE Managing Editor. The manuscript for this paper
was submitted for review and possible publication on February 24, 2004; in an SD-type system subjected to vertical bending can be more
approved on October 5, 2005. This paper is part of the Journal of Struc- exactly evaluated by considering a logical redistribution of lateral
tural Engineering, Vol. 132, No. 8, August 1, 2006. ©ASCE, ISSN force components 共the bending effect兲. A detailed analysis of this
0733-9445/2006/8-1212–1222/$25.00. redistribution of lateral forces will be given later. In this study,
Background
Fig. 10. Lateral forces from diagonals: 共a兲 lateral forces; 共b兲 lateral
Fig. 8. Differential lateral displacements of top flanges due to torsion force affecting lateral bending; 共c兲 lateral force affecting struts; and
and distortion 共1 in. = 25.4 mm兲 共d兲 deformation of two repeating adjacent panels
the girder length, strut forces are approximated from lateral forces
v1 =
共2s兲3 KH
192EI f 2
冉+ Sdist 冊 共10兲
that are assumed to be the same in magnitude in two adjacent
panels, a reasonable approximation as any difference will be where E = modulus of elasticity. Similarly, elongations of the strut,
small. The force developed in the strut member can be expressed v2, and the diagonal, ␦D, are given by
共Kim 2004兲 by examining the equilibrium of forces illustrated in
Fig. 10共d兲. bSdist
v2 = 共11兲
EAS
共2s兲3
192I f
冉 冊
Stor = DH 共6兲 LDDdist
b 共2s兲3 ␦D = 共12兲
+ EAD
2AS 192I f
where Stor = strut force due to pure torsional component; where AS,AD = cross-sectional area of the strut and diagonal,
I f = second moment of inertia of one top flange about z axis; respectively; and LD = length of the diagonal. Substituting
AS = cross-sectional area of a strut; and s = spacing between struts. Eqs. 共10兲–共12兲 into Eq. 共9兲 and solving Eqs. 共8兲 and 共9兲 simulta-
Axial forces are also developed in struts due to distortional neously for Ddist yields
components, as illustrated in Fig. 8. Diagonal members of internal
cross-frames resist distortional deformations of the box cross sec- ADASs3 sin ␣
tion and consequently the resulting member forces are transferred Ddist = ± KH
48ASLDI f + 2ASADs3 sin2 ␣ + 48ADbI f sin2 ␣
to lateral bracing, as illustrated in Fig. 11共a兲. The magnitude of
the horizontal force components, KH, can be evaluated approxi- 共13兲
mately by multiplying horizontal forces from distortional compo- where the positive sign denotes SD-type A and the negative sign
nents, denoted as qH,dist in Fig. 6, by the internal cross-frame SD-type B. Equation 共13兲 was derived to compute the lateral di-
spacing, 2s, which yields 共Fan and Helwig 2002兲 agonal member force in a simple-span box girder, but it can also
KH = 2sqH,dist = 冉
s M a
− ew
2h R b
冊 共7兲
be extended to continuous girders. However, care must be exer-
cised near interior supports where solid diaphragms are installed
and it is recommended that forces in the lateral diagonal due to
Duplicating the procedure used in the development of forces in distortion be neglected at the panels immediately adjacent to in-
struts due to pure torsional components illustrated in Fig. 10共a兲, terior solid diaphragms.
QA + QB = 2swlat 共14兲
Fig. 12. Interface forces due to lateral force components 共wlat兲
wlat共2s兲4 QA共2s兲3
v1 = − 共18兲
384EI f 192EI f
The elongations of the strut, v2, and the diagonal, ␦D, are
Slatb
v2 = 共19兲
EAS
DlatLD
␦D = 共20兲
EAD
Substituting Eqs. 共18兲–共20兲 into Eq. 共9兲 and solving for Dlat yields
the following expression for the diagonal member force induced
by lateral loading
Fig. 13. Lateral displacements of top flanges due to lateral force 24ADbsI f sin ␣
components 共wlat兲 Dlat = wlat 共21兲
24ASLDI f + AD共ASs3 + 24bI f 兲sin2 ␣
f xTops cos ␣
Dbend = 共24兲
LD b s3
+ sin2 ␣ +
AD AS 24I f
where f xTop = longitudinal stress in the middle of the top flange
24ADbsI f sin ␣
Dlat = wlat 共25兲
24ASLDI f + AD共ASs3 + 24bI f 兲sin2 ␣
冉 冊
Stor = DH 共30兲
b 共2s兲3
+ tems as shown in Figs. 4共a and b兲. The box girder properties and
2AS 192I f
vertical and torsional loading are given in Fig. 4. Fig. 14 com-
and pares forces in the diagonals determined by Eq. 共22兲 with results
from the FEA. The strut forces computed from Eq. 共23兲 are com-
Sdist = − Ddist sin ␣ 共31兲
pared with those obtained from the finite element analysis in
Equations 共24兲, 共26兲, and 共28兲 were adopted from Fan and Helwig Fig. 15. Excellent agreement is evident between proposed equa-
共1999兲. It should be noted that all force components are functions tions and FEA for strut forces. As indicated in Eq. 共4兲, Fan and
of bending and/or torsional moments. Although Dlat and Ddist are Helwig 共1999兲 assumed torsional loads not cause any strut forces.
fairly small except near interior supports, it is the authors’ opinion Axial forces in the SD-type lateral bracing members of the
that force components that approach 20% of the other major straight box girders shown in Fig. 4 subjected to vertical bending
forces must not be ignored. A detailed quantitative comparison of are comparatively shown in Fig. 16. Note that the forces deter-
each contribution is given in Table 1. mined from Eqs. 共22兲 and 共23兲 are only 6% greater than those
In the case of nonprismatic flanges, the flange second moment obtained from FEA, while the values computed from Fan and
of inertia with respect to a vertical axis passing the centroid of the Helwig 共1999兲 estimate brace forces 14% greater than those from
flange may be determined by taking a weighted average moment FEA at the mid-span. This improvement is believed to be due to a
of inertia reflecting the transition length ratio within the panel. logical redistribution of the lateral force components due to ver-
tical bending to both the struts and diagonals.
The lateral bracing forces computed from Eqs. 共22兲 and 共23兲 were
compared with the results from FEAs of a simply supported
straight box girder with two different types of lateral bracing sys-
Fig. 16. Forces in bracing members in straight girder due to vertical Fig. 18. Bending and torsional moment diagrams of three-span
bending 共1 kip= 4.45 kN兲 continuous horizontally curved girder 共1 k ft= 1.356 kN m兲
The validity of the proposed formulation was also checked for vertical load of 3.3 k / ft 共48.18 kN/ m兲. Tables 1 and 2 compara-
the case of a three-span curved girder. Pertinent information on tively show forces in diagonals and struts in the lateral bracing
the dimensions and loading are given in Fig. 17. The box girder system of the three-span continuous model. As can be seen from
consists of three different types of cross sections, with different Table 1, the diagonal forces computed from Eq. 共22兲 are in fairly
plate thicknesses but the same heights and widths. X-shaped in- good agreement with those from the FEA. The greatest discrep-
ternal cross frames were installed at every other strut location. ancy occurs in the diagonals subjected to the lowest forces. As it
The lateral bracing system has a total of 54 panels 共16+ 22+ 16兲. is likely that the same member will be used for all the diagonals
Fig. 18 shows bending and torsional moment diagrams for the in a bracing system, this discrepancy in the diagonals subjected to
three-span continuous horizontally curved girder subjected to a the lowest forces appears to be nonconsequential. Strut forces
Fig. 19. Diagonal forces in lateral bracing system of three-span Fig. 20. Strut forces in lateral bracing system of three-span
continuous horizontally curved girder 共1 kip= 4.45 kN兲 continuous horizontally curved girder 共1 kip= 4.45 kN兲
The work presented in this paper was supported in part by the References
Huff Eminent Scholar fund and Alabama Department of Trans-
portation Project No. 930-563. These financial supports are grate- ABAQUS, Inc. 共2003兲. ABAQUS analysis user’s manual: Version 6.4,
fully acknowledged. The opinions and conclusions expressed or Pawtucket, R.I.