Abstract:
Construction of bridge is critical activity for networking of river crossings, valleys, deep gorges and overpass areas for economic, social, political and other aspects. RC T-girder bridges are one of the most common bridge superstructures widely constructed in Ethiopia.
Superstructure design of girder bridges needs continuous investigation to achieve better resistance of a structure. In design of bridges, one can take any web geometry but from aspect of structural efficiency, investigations on girder web configurations which have equal cross-sectional areas should be evaluated well. The studyfocuses onwebconfiguration effects in RC T-girder bridges between normal web and flared web girders to contribute identification of better effective cross-section layouts.
The study has been made on four bridges with clear span of 12m, 16m, 20m and 24m T- girder in all layouts having a total of 18 models. The structural analysis software is CSi Bridge which is anintegrated3Dbridge modelling,analysisanddesignsoftware. Validation of CSi Bridge is performed in comparison with conventional beam line method of analysis based on AASHTO approximate method.This manual is guideline for analysis and design for the research. Static linear elastic analysis was the method and analytical approach. Thus, the limit states strength, service and fatigue are covered in the design.
The result of the research was observed that flared web girders make insignificant effect in most of the structural responses. But flared webs showed significant results in deflection responses. The study has generally concluded that normal webs are more efficient in all results than its equivalent flared web girders.