In this paper, a dynamic analysis model of an elevated bridge with ladder tracks under moving train load is established. The whole process of a train running through an elevated bridge at different speeds is simulated. The dynamic responses of the elevated bridge with ladder track and the running safety and comfort index of train vehicles are evaluated. Compared with the dynamic responses of an elevated bridge with ordinary non-ballasted slab track, the ladder track’s effect on reducing the vibration of an elevated bridge is analyzed. The analysis results show that the ladder track has good vibration reduction characteristics as compared to ordinary non-ballasted track.

The vibrations and noises of elevated railway structures have been cause for concern due to their effects on the environment and the people living near elevated lines. In this paper, the main structural features of some new elevated bridges and station hall were introduced. The generation mechanism of vibrations and noise of elevated structures induced by trains were investigated. The noise induced by different types of elevated bridges, their influences on the environment and the theoretical method for the analysis of structure borne noise was analyzed. Finally, several field measurements on train induced noises at the platforms of elevated subway stations and bridges were presented.

Tower cranes are commonly used facilities for the construction of high-rise structures. To ensure their workability, it is very important to analyze their response and evaluate their condition under extreme conditions. This paper proposes a general scheme for safety and serviceability assessment of high-rise tower crane to turbulent winds based on time domain buffeting response analysis. Spatially correlated wind velocity field at the location of the tower crane was first simulated using an algorithm for generating the time domain samples of a stationary, multivariate stochastic process according to some prescribed spectral density matrix. The buffeting forces applied to the structure were computed according to the above-simulated wind velocity fluctuations and the lift, drag, and moment coefficients obtained from a CFD computation. Those spatially correlated loads were then fed into a well calibrated finite element model and the nonlinear time history analysis was conducted to compute structural buffeting response. Compared with structural on-site response measurement, the computed response using the proposed method has good precision. The proposed method is then adopted for analyzing the buffeting response of an in-use tower crane under the design wind speed and the maximum operational wind speed for safety and serviceability assessment.

Tests were conducted on 3 specimens to study the flexural behavior of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP)-concrete-steel double-skin tubular members (DSTMs). The strip method was used to calculate the section moment-curvature curves of the 3 specimens and 12 models. A theoretical formula is presented for the flexural strength of DSTMs. The test results show that the tension zone of the specimen FRP tubes was in hoop compression while the compression zone was in hoop tension. The load-carrying capacity did not decrease even when the mid-span deflection reached about 1/24 of the span length. The tests, simulation and theoretical analysis resulted in a simplified formula for the flexural strength of DSTMs and a tri-linear moment-curvature model was expressed as a function of the section bending stiffness for DSTMs.

A vertical ship lift under earthquake excitation may suffer from a whipping effect due to the sudden change of building lateral stiffness at the top of the ship lift towers. This paper proposes a roof magnetorheological (MR) intelligent isolation system to prevent the seismic whipping effect on machinery structures. Theoretically, the dynamic models of MR damper and the mechanical model of ship lift was established, the inverse neural network controlling algorithm was proposed and the fundamental semi-active control equation for the Three-Gorges ship lift where the MR intelligent isolation system was installed was deduced. Experimentally, the experimental model of the ship lift was given, the vibrating table experiment of the MR intelligent isolation system controlling the whipping effect was carried out and the results of the inverse neural network control strategy and passive isolation strategy were compared. In practical aspect, the large-scale MR damper (500 kN) and a sliding support with limited stiffness were designed and fabricated. It was proven that the MR intelligent isolation system with proper control strategy can greatly reduce the seismic whipping effect on the top workshop of the ship lift and be simple and effective enough to be applied to real engineering structures.

An experiment was carried out on a set of full-scale specimens of a non-conventional connection between a concrete column and a composite steel and concrete beam defined on the basis of a number of requirements. The proposed connection, conceived in the ambit of semi-rigid joints, is aimed at combining general ease of construction with a highly simplified assembly procedure with a satisfying transmission of hogging moment at supports in continuous beams. For this purpose, the traditional shear studs used at the interface between the steel beam and the upper concrete slab, are also employed at the ends of the steel profiles welded horizontally to the end plates. The test is aimed at investigating the hogging moment response of the connection under incremental loads until failure.

Based on a detailed illustration for bridge life cycle design which comprises the processes of service life design, aesthetics design, performance design, environmental and ecological design, inspection, maintenance and repair design as well as cost analysis, this paper presented a general framework for bridge life cycle design comprising three design phases and six design processes.

For the design and operation of a floating bridge, the understanding of its hydroelastic behavior in waves is of great importance. This paper investigated the hydroelastic performances of a ribbon bridge under wave action. A brief introduction on the estimation of dynamic responses of the floating bridge and the comparisons between the experiments and estimation were presented. Based on the 3D hydroelasticity theory, the hydroelastic behavior of the ribbon bridge modeled by finite element method (FEM) was analyzed by employing the mode superposition method. And the relevant comparisons between the numerical results and experimental data obtained from one tenth scale elastic model test in the ocean basin were made. It is found that the present method is applicable and adaptable for predicting the hydroelastic response of the floating bridge in waves.

Based on 1D infinite element theory, the coordinate transformation and shape function of 3D point-radiation 4-node infinite elements were derived. They were coupled with 8-node finite elements to compute the compressive deformation of the prestressed anchor segment. The results indicate that when the prestressed force acts on the anchor segment, the stresses and displacements in the rock around the anchor segment are concentrated in the zone center with the anchor axis and are subjected to exponential decay. Therefore, the stresses and the displacement spindles are formed. The calculation results of the infinite element are close to the theoretical results.

It is necessary to study how vehicles influence the vortex-excited resonance of vehicle-bridge systems, because lock-in wind speed is low and vortex-excited resonance is sensitive to any change in the main girder sections. Based on the Shanghai Bridge over the Yangtse River, the vortex-excited resonance of a 1∶60 scale sectional model was tested in a TJ-1wind tunnel, with or without vehicles at the attack angle of 0°, +3 and -3°, respectively. The conversion relationships between the resonant amplitudes of the sectional model and that of the prototype bridge were also established by mode shape correction. The result indicates that: 1) for the bridge with vehicles, the vertical vortex-excited resonance is accompanied by torsion vibration with the same frequency, and vice versa, 2) the amplitude of vortex-excited resonance of the bridge with vehicles is much larger than that of the bridge without vehicles, and 3) the lock-in wind speed of the vortex-excited resonance becomes smaller due to the disturbance of vehicles. It is obvious that vehicles bring about changes in the aerodynamic shape of the main girder. Therefore, the influence of vehicles on vortex-excited resonance performance of vehicle-bridge systems, in terms of both amplitude and mode, should not be ignored.

Concrete box culverts are widely used in expressways in mountain areas. Many problems frequently take place due to improperly estimated vertical earth pressures on culverts. The prevailing Chinese General Code for Design of Highway Bridges and Culverts (CGCDHBC) stipulates the computation of the design load on culverts primarily based on the linear earth pressure theory, which cannot accurately describe the variation of the vertical load on culverts in trenches. In this paper, a full-scale experiment and numerical simulation were conducted to evaluate the variation of vertical earth pressures on culvert and soil arching in backfill. The variations of foundation pressure and settlement were also analyzed. The result revealed that the soil arch forms when the backfill on the culvert reaches a certain height. The soil arching effect reduces the stress concentration on the crown of the culvert but it is unstable. The vertical earth pressure on top of the culvert is significantly different from that recommended by the CGCDHBC

Based on the basic mechanical properties of geomaterials, it was proven that the Drucker Postulate and the classical theory of plasticity can not be applied to geomaterials. Moreover, several basic problems of plastic theory of geomaterials were discussed. Based on the strict theoretical analysis, the following have been proven: the single yield surface model based on the classical theory of plasticity is unsuitable for geomaterials whether the rule of associated flow is applied or not; the yield surface of geomaterials is not unique, and its number is the same as the freedoms of plastic strain increment; the yield surface is not convex; and the rule of associated flow is unsuitable for geomaterials.

Tests of interface between compacted clay and concrete were conducted systematically using interface simple shear test apparatus. The samples, having same dry density with different water content ratio, were prepared. Two types of concrete with different surface roughness, i.e., relatively smooth and relatively rough surface roughness, were also prepared. The main objectives of this paper are to show the effect of water content, normal stress and rough surface on the shear stress-shear displacement relationship of clay-concrete interface. The following were concluded in this study: 1) the interface shear sliding dominates the interface shear displacement behavior for both cases of relatively rough and smooth concrete surface except when the clay water content is greater than 16% for the case of rough concrete surface where the shear failure occurs in the body of the clay sample; 2) the results of interface shear strength obtained by direct shear test were different from that of simple shear test for the case of rough concrete surface; 3) two types of interface failure mechanism may change each other with different water content ratio; 4) the interface shear strength increases with increasing water content ratio especially for the case of clay-rough concrete surface interface.

Rectangular-closed-diaphragm-wall foundation is a new type of bridge foundation. Diaphragm wall-soil-cap interaction was studied using a model test. It was observed that the distribution of soil resistance under the cap is not homogeneous. The soil resistance in the corner under the cap is larger than that in the border; and that in the center is the smallest. The distribution of soil resistance under the cap will be more uniform, if the sectional area of soil core is enlarged within a certain range. Due to the existence of cap, there is a “weakening effect” in inner shaft resistance of the upper wall segments, and there is “enhancement effect” in the lower wall segments and in toe resistance. The load shearing percentage of soil resistance under the cap is 10%-20%. It is unreasonable to ignore the effects of the cap and the soil resistance under the cap in bearing capacity calculations.

The quality of segment is very important to the service life of shield tunnel. Concerning the complex engineering environment of the Wuhan Yangtze River Shield Tunnel, the principle of functionally graded materials was introduced to design and produce the functionally graded concrete segment (FGCS). Its key manufacturing technique was proposed and its performance was tested.

A new form of geodetic coordinate system based on geodesic coordinates instead of geodetic longitude and latitude was proposed. The vertical and horizontal geodesic coordinates measured with length were defined as coordinate parameters, but the two families of coordinate curves were still meridians and parallel circles. The first fundamental form on the ellipsoidal surface and its three coefficients were deduced by the geodesic coordinate. The formula for the latitudinal scale factor of length for geodetic parallel lines was derived, by which the obtained result conformed to that standard value calculated from geodetic latitude, and it is applicable in the range of 400 km from north to south. Therefore, it lays the foundation for establishing the differential equation and differential relationship based on this type of coordinate parameters; and consequently, it is convenient and accurate enough to operate on the ellipsoidal surface in this new form of geodetic coordinate system.