Unconventional high performance steel bridge girder systems

H.H. Abbas, B.-G. Kim & R. Sause

Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems (ATLSS) Center, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

ABSTRACT: The use of high performance steel (HPS) in the construction of steel bridge girders in the USA has been growing steadily in recent years. HPS offers several improved properties over conventional bridge steels, including high strength, excellent fracture toughness, good weldability, and resistance to corrosion. Research has shown that HPS has the potential to produce significant weight savings in design, although design limits associated with web instability, excessive deflections, and fatigue may impede the effectiveness of HPS in conventional I-girders with transverse stiffeners. In order to circumvent these design limits, several unconventional I-girder systems are being studied, including corrugated web I-girders (CWGs) and concrete-filled tubular flange I-girders (CFTFGs). These girder systems offer enhanced stability and longer fatigue life compared to conventional I-girders with transverse stiffeners, which makes them well-suited for use in combination with HPS. Other underlying benefits include lighter weight and reduced maintenance cost. This paper provides an overview of recent research conducted at Lehigh University on CWGs and CFTFGs.

1 INTRODUCTION High performance steels, which are increasingly available in the US, are well-suited for highway bridge applications due to their high strength, excellent toughness, good weldability and corrosion resistance. The use of these steels may lead to considerable weight savings in design (e.g., 15 to 20%), although design limits that impeded their effective use in conventional I-girders with transverse stiffeners include web instability, excessive deflections, and fatigue (Sause 1996). To overcome these limitations, unconventional I-girder systems have been proposed (Wassef et al. 1997, Sause & Fisher 1995), including I-shaped girders with corrugated webs (CWGs) and I-shaped girders with concrete-filled tubular flanges (CFTFGs), shown in Figure 1. Corrugated webs have been used in steel buildings in Europe since the early 1960s (Bergfelt & Leiva-Aravena 1986) and at least seven highway bridges in Europe and Japan have been constructed with corrugated webs (summarized by Abbas 2003). A typical CWG consists of two flanges welded to a steel web that is corrugated as shown in Figure 1a. The most commonly used profile for the corrugations is the trapezoidal profile, although other web profiles, such as sinusoidal, are also used. Among the seven bridges with corrugated webs, the Parc Astrix bridge in France is the only one that utilized CWGs (Cheyrezy & Combault 1990). The primary advantages of CWGs, compared with conventional I-girders with transverse stiffeners, are: (1) corrugations provide web stability under shear and CWGs do not require transverse stiffeners to resist shear; (2) critical Category C' fatigue details are eliminated because transverse stiffeners are not used; (3) corrugated web girders are lighter in weight (Wassef et al. 1997); and (4) CWGs have greater potential for automated fabrication than I-girders with

transverse stiffeners. Only a few girder bridges using concrete-filled tubes have been constructed, most notably the Val de Maupr Viaduct (Cheyrezy & Combault 1990), which utilizes triangular-shaped girders with two inclined corrugated steel webs welded to a concrete-filled steel tube bottom flange, and a railway bridge with concrete-filled steel pipe girders reported by Nakamura et al. (2002). Concrete-filled steel pipe girders have been studied experimentally by Mossahebi et al. (2004). A number of tubular truss bridges (e.g., Lully viaduct in Switzerland (Schumacher et al. 2001)), and concrete-filled tube arch bridges have been constructed in several countries. CFTFGs (Fig. 1b and 1c) have several advantages, including: (1) the concrete-filled tubular flange provides more strength, stiffness, and stability than a flat plate flange with the same amount of steel, reducing the need for bracing; and (2) the vertical dimension of the tube reduces the depth of the web, reducing problems with web slenderness design limits.

(a)

(b)

(c)

Middle plane

Figure 1. Unconventional bridge girder systems: (a) corrugated web I-girder; (b) & (c) concrete-filled tubular flange girders

This paper summarizes recent research at Lehigh University on CWGS and CFTFGs, including design studies, laboratory experiments, analytical studies, and demonstration bridge construction. 2 RECENT RESEARCH AT LEHIGH UNIVERSITY ON HPS UNCONVENTIONAL BRIDGE GIRDERS 2.1 Corrugated web girders CWGs under flexure behave differently than conventional I-girders. Corrugated webs are flexible in bending and do not carry significant bending stresses (Elgaaly et al. 1997). The flanges are assumed to carry the bending moment. The web is assumed to carry the vertical shear. Recent CWG research at Lehigh University includes studies of elastic flexural-torsional behavior (Abbas et al., in press), shear behavior (Driver et al. 2006), fatigue life (Sause et al., in press), and fabrication procedures (Sause 2003). The first three areas are summarized here. The flexural behavior of CWGs was first investigated by Lindner (1992) and Aschinger & Lindner (1997) in Germany for girders in constant shear. Abbas (2003) and Abbas et al. (in press) conducted further theoretical, experimental, and finite element analysis studies which showed that a CWG will twist out-of-plane simultaneously as it deflects in-plane under the action of in-plane loads (i.e., loads applied in the girders middle plane as shown in Figure 1a). Cross-sectional twist results in flange transverse bending as illustrated in Figure 2. Stresses that arise from flange transverse bending should be superimposed to stresses that arise from in-plane bending to give the full state of stress in a CWG. Closed form solutions for this flange transverse bending problem can be produced for sinusoidal web profiles, whereas the so-called ficti-

tious load method can be used advantageously for web profiles with piecewise linear folds (Abbas 2003, Abbas et al., in press).

Figure 2. Flange transverse bending in CWGs from finite element analysis

Many shear strength tests of CWGs are available in the literature wherein both local and global shear buckling modes have been observed. However, these shear strength tests were conducted primarily on relatively small scale specimens with dimensions and web thicknesses substantially smaller than would be used in actual bridge girders. Therefore, two full-scale corrugated web girders with a trapezoidal profile (G7A and G8A) and made of HPS 485W steel were tested (Driver et al. 2006, Abbas et al. 2002). The girders were designed to reach the shear yield strength based on previously proposed design criteria (e.g., Elgaaly et al. 1996). The test results revealed, however, that the previously proposed equations based on plate buckling theories can overestimate the shear strength of corrugated webs by a considerable margin. Finite element analyses have suggested that the strength is overestimated, at least in part, because of the sensitivity of the shear behavior to initial imperfections in the web (Driver et al. 2006, Abbas et al. 2002). Since web imperfections due to the fabrication process, as well as residual stresses and material nonlinearities, are expected to be present in varying degrees, a lower bound equation has been proposed for design that accounts for both local and global buckling of the web in the elastic and inelastic domains. The proposed equation effectively limits the web stress to 70.7% of the shear yield strength of the material. Figure 3a shows a load-deflection plot for girders G7A and G8A. The two test girders failed suddenly due to web buckling at shear stresses of 91% and 85% of yield. Girder G7A failed near the load point where the bending moment was largest and Girder G8A failed near the support, indicating that bending has little effect on the shear strength. Figure 3b shows girder G8A after failure.
4500 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 0 25 50 75 100 125 150

(a) Shear yield load level

(b)

Applied Load, kN

G7A G8A

Load point deflection, mm

Figure 3. Shear test results of CWGs with a trapezoidal web profile: (a) load-deflection of girders G7A and G8A; (b) deformed shape of girder G8A after failure.

To develop fatigue life data and propose fatigue design criteria for steel bridge I-girders with trapezoidal web corrugations, eight large-scale test girders were fabricated from HPS 485W steel and fatigue-tested in 4-point bending (Sause et al., in press). The web to flange fillet welds were made using semiautomatic gas metal arc welding (GMAW) or robotic GMAW. Fatigue cracks generally initiated in the tension flange at the web to flange fillet weld toe along the inclined web folds and adjacent bend regions, and propagated in the flange within the constant moment test region. Figure 4a shows an S-N diagram that summarizes the tests results, and Figure 4b shows a close-up view of the main crack for a test girder that was welded using semiau-

tomatic GMAW. The results demonstrated that steel I-girders with corrugated webs exhibit a fatigue life that is longer than that of conventional steel I-girders with transverse stiffeners but shorter than I-girders with unstiffened flat webs. For design of CWGs, the Category B design curve of the AASHTO LRFD specifications is recommended for finite life fatigue design calculations, and a value of 96.5 MPa is recommended for the constant amplitude fatigue limit.
(a)
1000 Semiautomatic GMAW
A B B' C&C' D E E'

(b) Web

Robotic GMAW
A B B'&C' C D E

Stress range, MPa

100

No failure
Proposed CAFL

E'

10 100,000

Crack
10,000,000 100,000,000

Flange

1,000,000

Number of cycles

Figure 4. Fatigue test results of CWGs with trapezoidal web profile: (a) experimental results; (b) main fatigue crack of girder G4A

2.2 Tubular flange girders Recent research on CFTFGs at Lehigh University has focused on CFTFGs for simple span bridges, where the concrete-filled tube is used as the top (compression) flange, which is either composite or non-composite with the concrete deck. The research includes initial design studies, analytical parametric studies, and experimental studies (Kim & Sause 2005, Wimer & Sause 2004). The first and the last of these three areas are summarized here. An initial design study was conducted to identify the advantages of CFTFGs. Minimum steel weight CFTFGs with round tube top flanges (Figure 1b) were designed for a prototype bridge and compared with minimum steel weight conventional steel I-girders. The prototype bridge has: (1) a simply-supported single span of 40.0m and a width of 15.2m, (2) four straight girders equally spaced at 3.8m with 1.9m deck overhangs, and (3) a 254mm thick concrete deck with a specified minimum compressive strength of 27.6 MPa. Design criteria for strength, stability, service, and fatigue were used in the design study. The designs developed in this research were based on the AASHTO LRFD specifications (1998) for I-girders, with the modifications discussed in Kim & Sause (2005). Figure 5 shows results from the design study. In this figure, Scheme 1 and Scheme 9 refer to the arrangement of diaphragms between girders along the span. Scheme 1 has four interior diaphragms spaced at 8m between the end diaphragms and Scheme 9 has only one interior diaphragm at mid-span (spaced at 20m between the end diaphragms). Figure 5 shows that the composite CFTFGs (composite with the concrete deck) are more than 10% lighter than the composite I-girders, even when a large diaphragm spacing is used. Thus, the composite CFTFGs have the advantages of decreased steel weight, and decreased fabrication and erection effort from using fewer diaphragms. It is also observed that the composite CFTFGs are lighter in total girder steel weight than non-composite CFTFGs. However, less construction effort is required for the non-composite CFTFGs, and the construction effort required to make the CFTFGs composite with a concrete deck may make the composite designs less economical. For the non-composite CFTFGs, the girders made of 485 MPa steel have a total girder steel weight 25% greater than the total steel weight of the non-composite CFTFGs made of 690 MPa steel. An experimental study of non-composite CFTFGs with round tube top flanges (Figure 1b) and composite CFTFGs with rectangular tube top flanges (Figure 1c) was conducted to show the advantages of CFTFGs and illustrating their ability to carry factored design loads under construction and service conditions. Construction conditions are the loads and support conditions

that occur in the incomplete bridge under construction and service conditions are the loads and support conditions that occur during normal use of the bridge.
1400 Total weight of girders (kN) 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0
Composite I-girder (Fy =485 MPa, Scheme 1) Composite CFTFG (Fy =485 MPa, fc'=27.6 MPa, Scheme 9) Non-composite CFTFG Non-composite CFTFG (F y =690 MPa, fc'=55.2 MPa, Scheme 9) (Fy =485 MPa, fc'=27.6 MPa, Scheme 9)

1300

1400

1500 Girder height (mm)

1600

1700

Figure 5. Comparison of I-girder and CFTFGs with Category B fatigue details and unstiffened webs

The test specimens were tested at 0.45-scale with a span of 18m, and only two girders, rather than the four girders of the prototype bridge, were included. Table 1 summarizes the test matrix. For the Stage 1 test, one interior diaphragm was located at mid-span. For the construction conditions, a precast concrete deck with six individual panels was placed on top of the girders without any connection between the panels. The setup for the Stage 2 test was the same as that for the Stage 1 test, except that no interior diaphragms were used for the Stage 2 test. During the Stage 3 test, the panels were post-tensioned longitudinally to form a single deck unit. A haunch was made by grouting between the deck and girders. For the non-composite round CFTFGs, plastic sheets were placed between the grout and the top of the girders to minimize composite action between the deck and the tube flanges from bond and friction, and discrete braces were added to simulate bracing of the CFTFGs by the deck using a minimum number of attachments (e.g., shear studs). For the composite rectangular CFTFGs, shear studs were used to make the deck composite with the rectangular top flange tubes.
Table 1. Test matrix and test results
Specimen Stage Interior Bracing Yesc No No Yes No No
c

Bracing by deck No No Yes

d

Test load Conditions

M max M const.
2.36 2.04 1.00 1.00 -

M max M strengthI
1.26 1.00

M max M serviceII
1.58 1.26

M max My
0.81 0.70 1.12 0.51 0.51 1.01

M max Mp
0.68 0.59 0.96 0.44 0.44 0.88

1 1a 2 3 1 2b
a

construction construction service construction construction

e

No No Yes

2 3

service

non-composite round CFTFGs composite rectangular CFTFGs c at mid-span only d at discrete locations e continuously
b

Figure 6 shows the test setup for the Stage 2 and Stage 3 tests of non-composite round CFTFGs, respectively. For all tests, the load was applied by placing 610 x 610 x 1829 mm concrete blocks, with an average weight of 16.0kN, on the deck. The blocks were placed two across on the deck so that the weight of one block could be assumed to act on one girder of the test specimen. The applied loads during the tests are shown in Table 1 by comparing with the factored design loads and the girder cross-section capacity. Figure 7 shows final loading conditions for the Stage 3 test of non-composite round CFTFGs. From the experimental results, it was observed that the CFTFG test specimens supported loads exceeding their design loads, with limit states occurring as expected, and without unexpected vertical deflections or lateral displacements. From the comparisons of the experimental results and finite element or cross-section analysis results, it was also observed that the structural behavior of CFTFGs can be accurately estimated using finite element analysis or cross-section analysis.

(a) Stage 2 Figure 6. Test setup for non-composite round CFTFGs

(b) Stage 3

Figure 7. Final loading condition for Stage 3 test of non-composite round CFTFGs

3 PENNSYLVANIA DEMONSTRATION BRIDGE PROJECTS Based on design recommendations that resulted from the research summarized above, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has recently completed the design and construction of a demonstration HPS highway bridge that uses CWGs (Fig. 8). The CWGs were fabricated from HPS 485W steel. The bridge carries two lanes of traffic (one each way) over the Towanda Creek in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. The superstructure consists of four CWGs with a trapezoidal web profile that are spaced at 2.7m and act compositely with a reinforced concrete deck. The girders are continuous over two spans, each approximately 38.6m in length. The web depth and thickness are approximately 1.6m and 6.4mm, respectively. This bridge is the first of its kind in the US and was opened to traffic in the summer of 2005.

(a)

(b)

Figure 8. Pennsylvania HPS demonstration highway bridge with CWGs: (a) erection of the steel girders; (b) bridge after completion

PennDOT is currently developing the concept for another demonstration bridge that utilizes CFTFGs. The bridge is planned as a two-span continuous bridge with spans of 30.5 m-30.5 m. The bridge cross section is planned as shown in Figure 9, with four straight girders equally spaced at 2.6 m centers with 0.9 m deck overhangs. The bridge girders will have rectangular concrete-filled tubes as the top flanges. The girders will have only a few intermediate transverse stiffeners and a single interior diaphragm within each span

Figure 9. Proposed Pennsylvania HPS demonstration highway bridge with CFTFGs

4 CONCLUSIONS HPS has the potential to produce considerable weight savings in design, but its potential in conventional I-girders with transverse stiffeners may not be fully realized due to stability, deflection, and fatigue design limits. CWGs and CFTFGs offer enhanced stability and longer fatigue life compared to conventional I-girders with transverse stiffeners. This paper provided an overview of recent analytical, experimental, and design studies that have been conducted at Lehigh University on these girder systems. The use of a corrugated web eliminates the need for transverse stiffeners, and can lead to a lighter girder weight by minimizing the web thickness. Moreover, the fatigue life of a CWG is longer than that of a conventional I-girder with transverse stiffeners. CFTFGs provides more strength, stiffness, and torsional stability than a conventional I-girder with equal weight. The torsional stability can be used to significantly reduce the number of interior diaphragms. Fatigue crack initiation in conventional I-girders is often associated with diaphragm connection details and other stiffener details. Eliminating or reducing the number of these details by using CWGs or CFTFGs has the potential to reduce inspection and maintenance costs, although this feature of these unconventional girder systems is yet to be studied. Finally, it is worth noting that the CWG and CFTFG systems can be combined, and studies on CFTFGs with corrugated webs have been reported recently by Kim et al. (2005).

5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was conducted at the Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems (ATLSS) Center at Lehigh University. The authors are grateful for the financial support of the ATLSS Center, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), and the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance (funded by a grant from Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development). The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in the paper are the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of those acknowledged here. 6 REFERENCES
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