Bridge Assessment Reduction Factors based on Monte Carlo Routine with Copulas

The issue of assessment of existing bridges has become important over the last decades among structural engineers and authorities. Due to factors like deterioration of materials, increasing traffic loads and intensity of traffic, it is necessary to evaluate the performance of existing bridges. It is widely accepted that current design codes are not suitable for the assessment of bridges. This study is aimed at finding correlations between load effects and easily obtainable traffic descriptors such as average daily truck traffic and percentage of long vehicles that are used to modify the design traffic load model. First objective of the paper is to develop a robust Monte Carlo simulation technique by using bivariate copula functions. Such routine enables the generation of all the traffic flows necessary to assess the influence of traffic characteristics on the extrapolated load effects and as a second objective to establish design load reduction factors. The results exhibit that an assessment traffic load model based on basic traffic descriptors can be potentially used to evaluate existing bridges.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2019.109530
• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141029619312088
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/01410296
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Pérez Sifre, Sergi
  • Lenner, Roman
• Publication Date: 2019-11-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Serial:
  • Engineering Structures
  • Volume: 198
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0141-0296
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01410296

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge management systems; Monte Carlo method; Risk assessment; Simulation; Traffic loads
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01718321
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 27 2019 9:57AM