LOAD DISTRIBUTION FACTORS FOR COMPOSITE MULTI-CELL BOX-GIRDER BRIDGES

Abstract

Composite steel-concrete multi-cell box-girder bridges combine excellent torsional stiffness with elegance. While the current design practices recommended few analytical methods for the design of multicell box girder bridges, practical requirements in the design process necessitate a need for a simpler design method. This thesis presents an extensive parametric study- using the finite element method- in which 20 bridges of various geometries were analyzed. The parameters considered here are: number of cells, number of lanes and span length. Based on the parametric study, moment and shear distribution factors are deduced for such bridges subjected to IRC loading.