Loads and Load Distribution

Weiwei Lin, Teruhiko Yoda, in Bridge Engineering, 2017

4.3.1 Live Load in US Specification
In the United States, the design vehicular live load is divided into three categories, namely (1)
design truck load, (2) design tandem load, and (3) design lane load.
The design truck specified in AASHTO Load and Resistance Factor Design (2007) are shown
in Fig. 4.1. The weight of the front axle is 35,000 N with double rear axles weighing 145,000 N,
respectively. The spacing between the two 145,000 N axles needs to be varied from 4300 to
9000 mm to produce the extreme force effects. The tire contact area of a wheel consisting of one
or two tires is assumed to be a single rectangle with 510 mm in width and 250 mm in length.

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Fig. 4.1 . Design truck in AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications (AASHTO, 2007).
The design tandem consists of a pair of 110,000 N axles spaced 1200 mm apart, with a
transverse spacing of 1800 mm for the wheels. With regard to the design lane load, a uniformly
distributed load of 9.3 N/mm shall be applied in the longitudinal direction with a width of
3000 mm in the transverse direction.
In the design, the following loading conditions shall be considered to produce the extreme force
effects: (1) the effects of the design tandem together with the design lane load, (2) the effects of
one design truck with the variable axle spacing plus the design lane load, and (3) for negative
bending moment regions, 90% of the effects of two design trucks with a minimum spacing of
15,000 mm between the lead axles of one truck and the rear axle of the other truck, plus the 90%
of the effects of the design lane load. In this case, the spacing between the two 145,000 N axles
is taken as 4300 mm.
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Sustainable replacement of aging bridge superstructures using
fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites
Y. Kitane, A.J. Aref, in Advanced Composites in Bridge Construction and Repair, 2014
Test set-up
Figure 10.7 shows the test set-up. Loads are applied vertically to the top surface of the test
specimen by the actuator hanging from the top beam of a reaction frame. The specimen is
instrumented with potentiometers and strain gages at various locations to measure displacement
and strain, respectively. Spreader beams spread the load from the actuator to four contact points.
The load configuration simulates the tandem load specified in the AASHTO LRFD Bridge
Design Specifications (AASHTO, 1998). The design tandem load is a live load that has two axles
of 110 kN, where one axle is 1200 mm away from the other. Each axle has two tires that are
1800 mm apart center-to-center, and each tire area is 510 mm long and 250 mm wide. For the
one-fifth scale model, this design tandem load becomes two axles of 4.4 kN, 240 mm apart. Two
tires of each axle are 360 mm apart and each tire area is 102 mm long and 50 mm wide.
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10.7 . Test set-up. (a) Schematic drawing; (b) photo of test set-up.

The test specimen is supported by concrete blocks at its two ends. To protect the bottom surface
of the specimen from damage and to allow rotation at the supports, elastomeric bearing pads are
placed on the concrete blocks, and the specimen sits on the pads. Each elastomeric bearing pad is
13 mm thick and made of neoprene.
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Thermoplastic composites for bridge structures
N. Uddin, ... U. Vaidya, in Developments in Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Composites for
Civil Engineering, 2013
13.3 Bridge deck designs
An integral modular fiber thermoplastic composite bridge structural system is described. To
demonstrate the design concept, two bridge deck systems with different spans are modeled. The
design concept of both decks presents a unique approach for a structurally efficient and low-cost
bridge deck system. A modular fiber-reinforced thermoplastic panel with hat-sine rib stiffened
shape is used as a bridge deck system. It consists of two/three components, i.e. top flat face, hat-
sine rib, and/or bottom flat face. The other parameters are the interface contact length between
shells of flat face and sine rib, wavelength of sine rib, depth of deck, and thickness of each deck
component. All these parameters can be determined by considering the deck stiffness criteria set
by the AASHTO code.
The deck shape based on the hat-sine rib stiffened design concept is selected by considering
various issues such as the processability of the E-glass/PP woven tape, and the practical issues
such as tooling, and design flexibility for the prototype studies. The glass/PP woven tape is
relatively stiff, unlike the typical thermoset pre-pregs (such as glass/epoxy or carbon/ epoxy); the
material cannot be molded into tight radii/corners. The hat-stiffened rib design is shown to be
structurally efficient in several studies [5–7]. A deck system as shown in Fig. 13.2 features E-
glass/PP woven tape hat-sine shape ribbed profile bonded to a flat E-glass/ PP woven face. A
three-step concept was pursued for manufacturing the glass/PP thermoplastic composite floor
segment type: (a) manufacture the flat face, (b) manufacture the hat-sine rib, and (c) adhesively
bond the face to the hat-sine rib. The face and the rib portions of the deck floor can be processed
through a number of choices, which include thermoforming, double belt press consolidation of
the tape forms, reaction injection molding, and/or extrusion. The contact area of the ribs to the
face could be bonded adhesively and/or by a combination of adhesive bonding and fasteners [4].
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13.2 . Plan of single-lane bridge deck.

13.3.1 Design criteria
The design criteria are set by following the loading conditions and performance limitations
described in the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications [8]. The dead load and the
vehicular live load must be applied in different combinations to obtain the maximum effect. The
dead load, DC, includes the weight of the structural system, wearing surface, and all attachments.
The loads are taken as 15 psf (0.72 kPa) (self-weight of the deck) and 5 psf (0.24 kPa)
(polymeric wearing surface) [9] applied as a uniformly distributed load over the surface of the
bridge. The three specified types of vehicular loading, LL, are:
1.
Design truck load: three axles with loads 32 kips (142 kN), 32 kips (142 kN) and 8 kips
(35.6 kN). The spacing between the 32 kips (142 kN) axles varies from 14 ft (4.26 m) to
30 ft (9.14 m), and is chosen by the designer to produce the maximum effect for shear,
moment, and deflection.
 2.
Design tandem: a pair of 25 kips (111 kN) axles spaced 4 ft (1.22 m) apart with
transverse spacing of 6 ft (1.83 m).
3.
Design lane load: a uniformly distributed load of 640 psf (30.64 kPa) applied over a 10 ft
(3 m) wide strip.
The AASHTO category strength I load combination is used to compute the ultimate capacity of
the bridge, i.e.
[13.1]Q=1.25DC+1.75LL+IM

The live load should include either a design truck load combined with a lane load, or a tandem
design load combined with a lane load for every lane in the bridge. The AASHTO service I
loading combination is used for checking the deflection of the bridge design, i.e.
[13.2]Q=LL+IM

For maximum deflection, the truck or tandem is placed such that the center of gravity of the
truck or tandem is on the center of the bridge, i.e. AASHTO arrangement I. The shear stresses
are checked by using arrangement II (with the rear axle of the truck or tandem at one end of the
bridge) of the truck or tandem load.
The AASHTO specifications 3.6.1.3.2 and 2.5.2.6.2 are used to adopt the deflection limit of
L/800 (where L is the span of the bridge). The deflection resulting from the design truck/tandem
alone or that resulting from 25% of the design truck/tandem taken together with the design lane
load should not be greater than the maximum allowed limit.
The maximum work theory of Tsai-Hill is used to determine the failure of the structure which
can be defined by the following equation:
[13.3]σx/σxULT2−σY/σYULTσx/σxULT+σY/σYULT2+σXY/σXYULT2<1.0

where σx, σy, and τxy are longitudinal, transverse, and shear stresses due to applied load, and σx(ult),
σy(ult), and σxy(ult) are the ultimate stresses in the longitudinal, transverse, and shear directions. These
ultimate strength values in checking ply failure using the Tsai-Hill approach are adopted from
the literature using experimental results whenever possible.
13.3.2 Analysis and design procedure
E-glass/PP is used in the design of the bridge structure. The ply properties, i.e. E(fiber),
E(matrix), G(fiber), G(matrix) are based on experimental results mentioned in Vaidya et al. [4].
The elastic properties of the laminate for a specific volume fraction of fibers are analytically
evaluated using laminate theory; these elastic constants used for analysis are Young's modulus in
the longitudinal and lateral/transverse directions (Ex, EY, Ez), Poisson's ratio in each direction
(vxy, vxz, vyz), and shear modulus (GXY, Gxz, Gyz). Table 13.1 lists the elastic properties for the
composite laminate.
Table 13.1 . Material properties of E-glass/PP woven tape composite

Property E-glass/PP woven tape

composite 40% fiber content by volume
E X 1,437 ksi (9,900 MPa)
E Y 1,437 ksi (9,900 MPa)
E Z 149 ksi (1,027 MPa)
V XY 0.11
V yz 0.22
V XZ 0.22
G XY 184.16 ksi (1,270 MPa)
g YZ 108.75 ksi (750 MPa)
G XZ 108.75 ksi (750 MPa)
E FIBER 10,150 ksi (69,982 MPa)
E MATRIX 149 ksi (1,027 MPa)
g FIBER 4,350 ksi (29,992 MPa)
G MATRIX 108.75 ksi (750 MPa)
The finite element analysis to model the bridge deck is carried out on Ansys 8.0 software, the
composite face and the hat-sine ribs are modeled using the Shell 99 elements. The Shell 99
element used has six degrees of freedom at each node constituting the x, y, and z direction nodal
translations and rotations. Each element is defined by eight nodes (the mid-plane and the corner
nodes), average or corner layer thickness, orthotropic material properties, and ply
orientations [10]. The contact region between the face panel and the hat-sine stiffened ribs is
developed by merging the common nodes and key points. The hat-sine ribs were subjected to
parametric studies, which included the amplitude of the hat-sine, the wavelength, and the contact
width between the face panel and the ribs. Based on the combination of least deflection and
corresponding stresses, the right combination of the sine amplitude with the other deck
components (i.e., wavelength and contact width) is determined and is described in detail
elsewhere [4]. Following the selection of the right combination of parameters, further analysis on
the bridge deck was conducted as summarized in the following sections.
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Loads and Load Distribution
HL-93 AASHTO Vehicular Live Loading | Truck
| Tandem | Design Lane Load
HL-93 is a type of theoretical vehicular loading proposed by AASHTO in 1993. It is used as the design
loading for highway structures in USA and other countries where AASHTO code is followed. AASHTO HL-
93 vehicular live load is a combination of three different loads,
1. HL-93 Design Truck (formerly, HS20-44 Truck)
2. HL-93 Design Tandem (formerly, Alternate Military)
3. Design Lane Load
Details of application and calculation of Design Vehicular Live Load is explained in “AASHTO Bridge
Design Specifications Cl 3.6.1.2”.
HL-93 Design Truck
Design Truck consists of three axles, front and two rear axles with front axle weighing 8kip (35 kN) and
two rear axles weighing 32kip (145 kN). The distance between front and rear axle is 14’ (4.3m) and that of
two rear axles can be varied between 14’ (4.3m) to 30’ (9.0m) to obtain the worst design force. The tyre to
tyre distance in any axle is 6’ (1.8m).

HL-93
Design Truck AASHTO

Generally, Center of truck wheels must be at least 2’ (600mm) from the edge of a design lane and 1’
(300mm) from the deck overhang. Minimum tail to nose distance between two successive trucks in a lane
is 50’ (15m).

AASHTO HL-93
Truck Tire Plan

For Truck and Tandem, the design contact area of tyre is assumed to be a single rectangle of with 20”
(510mm) and length 10” (250mm). The tyre pressure is assumed to be uniform over the contact area.
HL-93 Design Tandem
HL-93 Design Tandem consist of twin axles spaced 4’ (1.2m) apart, weight of each axle is 25kip (110 kN).
The distance between the tyres in an axle is 6’ (1.8m).

HL-93 Design Tandem AASHTO

To obtain maximum negative moments, a pair of tandems should be considered, spaced at 8.0m to 12.0m
along with design lane load to produce worse hogging effect. Code doesn’t specify maximum number of
tandems that can be considered in a lane, nor it does explicitly specify minimum tandem to tandem
distance.

AASHTO HL-93 Tandem Tire Plan

Design Lane Load

The design lane load shall consist of a load of 0.64 klf (9.3 kN/m) uniformly distributed in the longitudinal
direction. In transverse direction, the design lane load shall be assumed to be uniformly distributed over a
10.0’ (3m) width.
Placement of HL93 Load
Design vehicle and lane loads should be applied in such a way that extreme force effect is obtained for
design. In case of multiple lanes, Multiple Lane factors described in the code shall be considered.

HL93
Truck Position for Maximum Saggin Moment in Span 1

Impact factor or dynamic load allowance is applied only for trucks and tandems, not for lane loading. The
governing design force shall be taken as the larger of the following:
1. The effect of the design tandem + the design lane load;
2. The effect of one design truck (HL93) + the effect of the design lane load;
3. For hogging moment between inflection points, 90% of the effect of 2 nos. design trucks (HL93
with 4.3m axle spacing) spaced at a minimum of 15m. combined with 90% of the design lane
load.