Strength of corroded tapered plate girders under pure shear

Abstract

Corrosion is one of the most important causes of deterioration of steel girder bridges. The lack of information concerning the behaviour of corroded web panels makes difficult the civil engineer’s task of evaluating the deteriorated member. An in-depth study in front of serviceability and ultimate limit states is necessary to develop efficient techniques to evaluate the structural integrity and safety. By combining information on the rate and location of an eventual corrosion in web and flange panels, it is possible to predict elastic critical shear buckling stress and ultimate shear stress. Nonlinear analyses have been conducted in a three-dimensional finite element model of transversely stiffened corroded tapered plate girders, simulated by thickness reduction, subjected to pure shear. In this paper is presented a finite element model of corroded girder panels (web and flanges), and an application of Data Mining techniques (e.g., Neural Networks) to analyze the data generated in the analytical study to find new and novel knowledge for condition assessment.