Construction of the Galleria I-459 Flyover near
Birmingham Alabama.
Curved Bridge Stability
Research
“Curved bridge” refers to bridges with
support structures curved in the horizontal plane. The horizontally
curved bridge girder carries its load transverse to the curvature of the beam
while the arch supports it share of the load in the plane of curvature.
In the design of straight bridges, the primary girders can typically be
designed as isolated members, subjected to bending only. However, once
curvature is added to the structure, an entirely different behavior
results. Torsion is introduced and all of the girders, cross-frames, and
diaphragms push and pull on each other. The behavior is extremely complex
and the additional stresses due to curvature are significant. A design
guide entitled "Guide Specifications for Horizontally Curved Highway
Bridges" is available to engineers who are designing curved
bridges. The research in which this "guide" was based was done
in the early and mid 1970's and has many disparities and shortcomings.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the bridge design industry has recognized
this problem for some time and two large scale projects were initiated:
(1) the FHWA Curved Steel Bridge Research Project (CSBRP) and (2) the
National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 12-38, Improved
Design Specifications for Horizontally Curved Steel Girder Highway Bridges.
The overall objective of the CSBRP is to conduct fundamental research into the
behavior of the curved steel bridges and that of NCHRP Project 12-38 to use established
knowledge of the subject to update the Guide Specifications for
Horizontally Curved Highway Bridges. I have been part of both
of these projects and have authored several peer-reviewed publications.
Students
involved: Ramy Abdalla, Mahendra Madhavan (PhD May 2006), Lance Osborne (MSCE May 2002)
JOURNAL
PUBLICATIONS
Madhavan MK and Davidson
JS, “Elastic buckling of I-beam flanges subjected to a linearly varying stress distribution,”
Journal of Constructional Steel Research,
Volume 63, Issue 10, October 2007, Pages 1373-1383.
Madhavan MK and Davidson JS, “Elastic Buckling of Plates Subjected to
Linearly Varying Edge Load,” Thin-Walled
Structures, v 43, n 8, August, 2005, p 1264-1276.
Davidson JS and Yoo
CH, “Effects of Distortion on the Strength of Curved
Davidson JS and Yoo
CH, “Evaluation of Strength Formulations for Horizontally Curved Flexural
Members,” ASCE Journal of Bridge Engineering, Vol
5, No. 3, August 2000.
Davidson JS, Ballance
SR and Yoo CH, “Behavior of Curved I-girder Webs
Subjected to Combined Bending and Shear,” ASCE Journal of Bridge Engineering,
Vol 5, No. 2, May 2000.
Davidson JS, Ballance
SR and Yoo CH, “Effects of Longitudinal Stiffeners on
Curved I-Girder Webs,” ASCE Journal of Bridge Engineering, Vol 5, No. 2, May 2000.
Davidson JS, Ballance
SR and Yoo CH, “Analytical Model of Curved I-girder
Web Panels Subjected to Bending,” ASCE Journal of Bridge Engineering
August 1999.
Davidson JS, Ballance
SR and Yoo CH, “Finite Displacement Behavior of
Curved I-Girder Web Subjected to Bending,” ASCE Journal of Bridge
Engineering, August 1999.
Yoo CH and Davidson JS,
“Yield Interaction Equations for Nominal Bending Strength of Curved I-Girders,”
Journal of Bridge Engineering, ASCE, Vol 2,
No. 2, May 1997.
Davidson JS, Keller MA and Yoo CH, “Cross-Frame Spacing and Parametric Effects in
Horizontally Curved I-Girder Bridges,” Journal of Structural Engineering,
ASCE, Vol. 122, No. 9, September, 1996.
Yoo CH, Kang YJ, and Davidson
JS, “Buckling Analysis of Curved Beams by Finite Element Discretization,”
Journal of Engineering Mechanics, ASCE, Vol. 122, No. 8, August, 1996.
Lee SC, Davidson JS,
and Yoo CH, “Shear Buckling Coefficients of Plate
Girder Web Panels,” Computers & Structures, Vol. 59, No. 5, pp.
789-795, 1996.
Davidson JS and Yoo
CH, “Local Buckling of Curved I-Girder Flanges,” Journal of Structural
Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 122, No. 8, August, 1996.
PRESENTATIONS
AND PROCEEDINGS
Davidson
JS and Madhavan MK, “Definition of Flange Compactness
for I-Beams that are subjected to Combined Primary Bending and Torsion or
Lateral Flexure,” presented at the 2006 ASCE
Structures Congress, May 18-21 2006,
Davidson
JS and Madhavan MK, “Flange Compactness Definition
for Horizontally Curved I-Girders” presented at the 2005 North American Steel Construction / Structural Stability Research
Council (SSRC) Conference,
April 2005,
Madhavan MK and Davidson
JS, “Elastic Buckling of Centerline-Stiffened Plates Subjected to a Linearly
Varying Stress Distribution” presented at the 2005 North American Steel Construction / Structural Stability Research
Council (SSRC) Conference, April 2005,
Davidson
JS and Madhavan MK, “Lateral Stability of Braced
Curved I-Girder Systems” presented at the 2005
North American Steel Construction / Structural Stability Research Council
(SSRC) Conference, April 2005, Montreal Canada.
Davidson
JS and Yoo CH, “Analytical Model to Evaluate the
Distortion of Curved Thin-Walled Web Panels” Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on
Thin-Walled Structures, 22-24, Loughborough
Madhavan MK and Davidson JS,
“Elastic Buckling of Plates Subjected to Uniaxial
Eccentric Compression” Proceedings of the Fourth
International Conference on Thin-Walled Structures, 22-24, Loughborough UK, June 2004.
Madhavan MK and Davidson
JS, “Elastic Buckling of Centerline-Stiffened Plates Subjected to a Linearly
Varying Stress Distribution,” Proceedings of The Twenty-second Southeastern Conference on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, August 15-17, 2004,
Davidson JS
and Yoo CH, “Distortion Effects on the Stability of
Curved I-Shaped Bridge Girders” presented at the main technical session of the
2003 North American Steel Construction / Structural Stability Research Council (SSRC)
Conference, April 2003.
Madhavan MK and Davidson JS,
“Elastic Local Buckling of Curved I-Girder Flanges” presented at the 2003 North American Steel Construction /
Structural Stability Research Council (SSRC) Conference, April 2003.
Davidson JS and Yoo
CH, “Effects of Distortion on the Strength of Curved I-Shaped Bridge Girders”
James S. Davidson and Chai H. Yoo,
presented at the 2003 TRB Annual Meeting, TRB Committee A2C02 -
Davidson JS and Yoo
CH, “Distortion Effects on the Stability of Curved I-Shaped Bridge Girders”
Presented in the Proceedings of the 2003 Structural Stability Research Council
conference.
Madhavan MK and Davidson JS, “Elastic Local
Buckling of Curved I-Girder Flanges” Presented in the Proceedings of the 2003
Structural Stability Research Council conference.
Davidson JS and Yoo
CH, “Stability of Horizontally Curved I-Girder Web Panels,” Presented at the
main technical session of the 2002 North American Steel Construction Conference
and Structural Stability Research Council Conference, April 2002.
Davidson JS and Yoo
CH, “Stability of Horizontally Curved I-Girder Web Panels,” Proceedings of the
2002 Structural Stability Research Council conference.
Yoo CH, Davidson JS, and
Zhang J, “Top Flange Diagonal Bracing of
Horizontally Curved Box Girders,” Presented at the ASCE 12th Engineering
Mechanics Conference, La Jolla, CA, May 16-20, 1998.
REPORTS
Davidson JS, Abdalla RS, and Madhavan MK, “Stability of Curved Bridges during
Construction,” report published by the University
Transportation Center for Alabama (UTCA), UTCA Report 03228, December
2004.
Davidson JS, Abdalla
RS, and Madhavan MK, “Design and Construction of
Modern Curved Bridges,” report published by the University Transportation
Center for Alabama (UTCA), UTCA Report 01223, December 2002.
“Construction
of Curved I-girder Bridges: Case Study of the I-459 Flyover,” Lance Osborne,
MSCE student report and project presentation, April 2002.
Yoo CH and Davidson JS, “Curved Steel Bridge Research Project: Task D - Nominal Bending and Shear Strength,”
report submitted to the Federal Highway Administration, Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, as part of the Curved
Steel Bridge Research Project, Contract No. DTFH61-92-C-00136,
Davidson JS, “Nominal Bending and
Shear Strength of Curved Steel I-Girder Bridges,” Ph.D. Dissertation,
SPONSORED
PROJECTS
Principal Investigator,
“Deck Forms for Bridge Construction Safety,” sponsored by the Department of Transportation
through the University Transportation Center for Alabama (UTCA), January 1,
2006 through August 31, 2007.
Principal Investigator, “Stability of Curved
Bridges during Construction,” sponsored by the Department of Transportation
through the University Transportation Center of Alabama (UTCA), January 1, 2003
through March 31, 2004.
Principal Investigator, “Design and Construction
of Modern Curved Bridges,” sponsored by the Department of Transportation
through the University Transportation Center of Alabama (UTCA), September 1,
2001 through December 30, 2002.