Numerical analysis and model updating of a steel-concrete composite bridge : Parametric study & Statistical evaluation

Sammanfattning: In the year 2006, only 10 years after the steel- concrete composite bridge, Vårby bridge was built, fatigue cracks were found during an inspection. To further investigate the reasons and the potential danger of the cracks, an investigation under the commission of the Swedish Transport Administration was issued in 2009. After the detection of fatigue cracks, several measurements were carried out in order to monitor the static behavior by the use of strain gauges at selected positions along the bridge. The measurements from the strain gauges monitoring the global behavior were then used to calibrate an finite element model.   The present report is part of the research of understanding the behavior of steel-concrete composite bridges. Numerical analysis and model updating have been used in order to understand and determine how different parameters affects the strain range and the global behavior. The numerical analysis and parameter study were performed in the Finite Element software Abaqus and programming language Python. The outcome of the parameter study was then used to perform the model updating by the method of falsification in MATLAB.   The results from the parameter study and the model updating showed that the measured strains could be reached with a wide range of parameter combinations. Even with unreasonable parameter values, the measured strains were obtained. To investigate the reason for this, a multiple linear regression analysis was performed which showed that the strain range is strongly correlated to the Young’s modulus of steel and concrete and also to the connector elasticity, which resembles the studs in the real bridge.   Two different finite element models, with two completely different input parameter values, obtain the same strain range for the global behavior. It is therefore not certain to assume that a model is accurate and valid based on the fact that the predicted strain range from the finite element model is close to the measured strain range since the global behavior of a steel- concrete composite bridge can be modeled by many different sets of parameters.