Example : Wood-
Armer Slab
Assessment
For software product(s): LUSAS Bridge.
With product option(s): None.
Description
A Wood Armer slab
assessment is to be 11.3 degree skew angle
carried out on a 15m
long, 9.8m wide 1.25
single span, Upper lane
reinforced concrete Boundaries of Patch loads 3.65
bridge deck. The
deck has a skew
`
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Example : Wood-Armer Slab Assessment
Keywords
2D, Simple Slab, Skew Angle, Wood-Armer Reinforcement, Wood-Armer
Assessment, Safety Factors, Self Weight, General Loading, Knife Edge Loading,
General Patch Loading, Combination, Contour Plotting, Display Peak Values.
Associated Files
q wood_armer_modelling.cmd
<
carries out the modelling of the
example.
Modelling
Running LUSAS Modeller
For details of how to run LUSAS Modeller see the heading Running LUSAS
Modeller in the Examples Manual Introduction.
Note. This example is written assuming a new LUSAS Modeller session has been
! started. If continuing from an existing Modeller session select the menu command
File>New to start a new model file. Modeller will prompt for any unsaved data and
display the New Model Startup form.
Note. It is useful to save the model regularly as the example progresses. This
! allows a previously saved model to be re-loaded if a mistake is made that cannot be
corrected by a new user.
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Modelling
Feature Geometry
Geometry
Surface > Enter coordinates of (0, 0), (15, 0), (16.96, 9.8) and (1.96, 9.8) to define the
Coordinates... slab as a single Surface.
Next, the edge of carriageway and
lane widths will be defined by
copying the lower Line of the
main span.
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Example : Wood-Armer Slab Assessment
Meshing
Attributes • Select Thick Plate,
Mesh >
Surface…
Quadrilateral,
elements with Linear
interpolation.
• Select the whole model using the Ctrl and A keys together.
• Drag and drop the Surface mesh dataset Thick Plate from the Treeview onto
the selected features.
Note. At any time the mesh (and other features) displayed in the Graphics area
! may be hidden or re-displayed. With no features selected click the right-hand mouse
button in a blank part of the graphics area and select Mesh. If a mesh was previously
displayed it will be hidden. If previously hidden it will be displayed. This facility can
be used to simplify the display when it is required.
• Turn off the display of the Mesh as described in the previous note.
Geometric Properties
Attributes • Enter a Surface element thickness of 0.9 metres. Enter the dataset name as
Geometric >
Surface…
Thickness 0.9. The eccentricity field in the geometric properties dialog can be
left blank or entered as zero as the plate element used does not possess this
geometric property. Click OK
• Drag and drop the geometry dataset Thickness 0.9 from the Treeview onto
the selected features.
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Modelling
Material Properties
Attributes • Select material Concrete from the drop down list, leave grade as Ungraded and
Material >
Material Library… units as kN m t C s and click OK to add the material dataset to the Treeview.
• With the whole model selected, drag and drop the material dataset Concrete
Ungraded (kN m t C) from the Treeview onto the selected features, ensuring
that it is assigned to Surfaces and click OK
Supports
LUSAS provides the more common types of support by default. These can be seen in
the Treeview. Both inclined edges of the slab are to be simply supported in the Z
direction.
Loading
Five load cases will be considered, with an additional two combinations of these
loads created at the results processing stage.
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Example : Wood-Armer Slab Assessment
• With the whole model selected, drag and drop the loading dataset Self Weight
from the Treeview onto the selected features ensuring the loading is assigned
to Surfaces as Loadcase 1 with a load factor of 1
The self weight loading will
be displayed.
• In the Loadcases
Treeview right click on
Loadcase 1 and select
the Rename option.
• Rename Loadcase 1 to
Self Weight
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Modelling
Note. The order in which the Points are selected determines the local X and Y
! directions of the patch load. The Local X direction is from the first Point to the
second Point selected. The Local Y direction is from the second to the third Point.
Note. Using the drop down list loads which lie outside the search area (the slab
! deck in this case) may be treated in a variety of ways. See help for details.
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Example : Wood-Armer Slab Assessment
• Enter the loadcase as Lane load (lower) with a load factor of 1 and click OK.
The loading will be displayed.
Note. The coordinates of the patch will be taken from the coordinates of the
! Points, therefore the patch load must be assigned to the Point at the origin of the
structure.
• With the Point at the origin of the structure selected, drag and drop the loading
dataset Lane load (upper) from the Treeview onto the selected Point.
• Enter the loadcase as Lane load (upper) with a load factor of 1 and click OK
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Modelling
• Enter the dataset name as Knife edge load (lower) and click OK
Note. The order in which the Points are selected determines the local X direction
! of the knife edge load. The Local X direction is from the first Point to the second
Point selected.
• With the Point at the origin selected, drag and drop the loading dataset Knife
edge load (lower) from the Treeview onto the selected Point.
• Enter the loadcase as Knife edge load (lower) with a load factor of 1 and click
OK
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Example : Wood-Armer Slab Assessment
• Enter the dataset name as Knife edge load (upper) and click OK
• With the Point at the origin selected, drag and drop the loading dataset Knife
edge loading (upper) from the Treeview onto the selected Point.
• Enter the loadcase as Knife edge load (upper) with a load factor of 1 and click
OK
Visualising Loadcases
Load cases can be
visualised at any time by
activating each loadcase
in the Treeview.
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Running the Analysis
• Ensure that the options Solve now and Load results are selected.
Rebuilding a Model
If errors are listed that for some reason cannot be corrected by the user, a file is
provided to re-create the model information correctly, allowing a subsequent analysis
to be run successfully.
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Example : Wood-Armer Slab Assessment
q wood_armer_modelling.cmd
<
carries out the modelling of the
example.
File
New… Start a new model file. If an existing model is open Modeller will prompt for
unsaved data to be saved before opening the new file.
File
Save Save the model file.
File
LUSAS Datafile... Rerun the analysis to generate the results.
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Viewing the Results
Defining a Combination
Combinations can be created to view the combined effects of multiple load cases on
the structure.
Utilities
Combination >
A combination dataset Combination 6 will be created in the Treeview.
Basic
The combination properties
dialog will appear.
Note. To obtain the correct effect from the combined loads in this example the
! Combination should only include one occurrence of each load case.
• For each of the other 4 load cases, select each loadcase in turn and enter a factor
of 1.65
• Select the Grid button to check all the factors are entered correctly and click OK
to return to the combination dialog.
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Example : Wood-Armer Slab Assessment
• If not already visible, with nothing selected click the right-hand mouse button in
a blank part of the graphics area and select the Mesh option to add the mesh
layer to the Treeview.
Contour Plots
• With no features selected click the right-hand mouse button in a blank part of the
graphics area and select the Contours option to add the contours layer to the
Treeview.
The contour properties dialog will be displayed.
• To display the mesh on top of the contours, select the Mesh entry in the
Treeview and drag on drop it on top of the Contours entry in the Treeview.
• Select the Values Display tab and set Maxima and Minima values to display the
moments for the top 0% of results.
• Click the OK button to redisplay the contours with peak values marked.
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Viewing the Results
Moments in XY direction
• In the Treeview double-
click on the Contours
layer.
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Example : Wood-Armer Slab Assessment
• Select the Mx(B) component to view contour of Wood Armer moments in the X
direction for the bottom of the slab. Click the OK button.
• Select Yes to change the values layer results to match those of the contours layer.
From the resulting Wood Armer
plot it can be seen that the
maximum value of Mx(B) is
1545 kNm. This value is
compared with the maximum
slab capacity (1700 kNm) to
determine the safe load carrying
capacity. In this case the slab
passes the assessment.
• Select the My(B) component to view contours of Wood Armer moments in the Y
direction for the bottom of the slab.
• Select Yes to change the values layer results to match those of the contours layer
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Viewing the Results
Note. A detailed explanation of the modified equations is beyond the scope of this
! example, however the user may find it beneficial to consult the following references:
Note. Top and bottom safety factors are possible at any single position due to the
! application of mixed moment fields.
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Example : Wood-Armer Slab Assessment
• In the Treeview double-click on the Contours layer and select the Stress
entity
• Select the MSafe(B) component to select contours of Safety in the bottom of the
slab.
• Click the OK button to display contours of safety for the moment capacities
entered.
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Viewing the Results
• In the Treeview double-click on the Contours layer and select the Contour
Range tab.
• Set the contour Interval as 1, the Maximum value as 5 and the Minimum value
as 1
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Example : Wood-Armer Slab Assessment
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