Determination of Finite Element Modelling Errors for Box Culverts Using Field Load Tests

Buried culverts have been in service more than half a century and their age raises questions about their reliable serviceability for the new standard vehicles. The gross weight and axle spacing of these trucks play an important role on the performance of the buried culverts where the culvert is covered with shallow fill heights. Field live load tests were conducted by driving a loaded truck over some culverts at slow speed while recording data at the critical locations of these culvert. Finite element (FE) models were developed and calibrated using field load test results. Live load distribution formulations were adopted from AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications for different fill heights. Two- and three-dimensional FE models were modelled and loaded separately to compare the critical section forces. The results showed that the error using two different FE modelling approach yields more than 100% error for the maximum section forces when fill heights is between 60 cm and 120 cm. This study is aimed to highlighting the inherent error in numerical modelling of buried reinforced box culverts for design or rating purposes.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

box culvert, field test, fill height, load distribution, finite element modelling

Determination of Finite Element Modelling Errors for Box Culverts Using Field Load Tests

Keywords:

box culvert, field test, fill height, load distribution, finite element modelling,

PDF

___

Abdel-Karim, A.M., Tadros, M.K. and Benak, J.V., Live Load Distribution on Concrete Box Culverts, Record No.1288; Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., USA, 1990.
McGrath, T., Liepins, A. and Beaver, J., Live load distribution widths for reinforced concrete box sections, 6th International Bridge Engineering Conference: Reliability, Security, and Sustainability in Bridge Engineering, Boston, MA, USA, July, 2005.
Abolmaali, A., and Garg, A.K., Effect of wheel live load on shear behavior of precast reinforced concrete box culverts, Journal of Bridge Engineering, 13(1), 93–99, 2008.
Wood, T.A., Lawson, W.D., Jayawickrama, P.W. and Newhouse, C., Evaluation of production models for load rating reinforced concrete box culverts, Journal of Bridge Engineering, 20(1), 4014057, 2015.
Wood, T.A., Lawson, W.D., Surles, J.G., Jayawickrama, P.W. and Seo, H., Improved load rating of reinforced-concrete box culverts using depth-calibrated live-load attenuation”, Journal of Bridge Engineering, 21(12), 4016095, 2016.
Orton, S.L., Loehr, J.E., Boeckmann, A. and Havens, G., Live-load effect in reinforced concrete box culverts under soil fill, Journal of Bridge Engineering, 20(11), 04015003, 2015.
Negussey, D., Andrews, L., Singh, S. and Liu, C., Forensic investigation of a wide culvert reconstruction failure, Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice, 10(3), 2019.
Puppala, A.J., Ruttanaporamakul, P. and Congress, S.S.C., Design and construction of lightweight EPS geofoam embedded geomaterial embankment system for control of settlements, Geotextiles and Geomembranes, 47(3), 295–305, 2019.
Wysokowski, A. (2021), Influence of single-layer geotextile reinforcement on load capacity of buried steel box structure based on laboratory full-scale tests, Thin-Walled Structures, 159, 107312, 2021.
Kinchen, R.W., Temple, W.H., Lacinak, H.W. and Gueho, B.J., Evaluation of drainage pipe by field experimentation and supplemental laboratory experimentation, Report No. FHWA/LA-78/115; Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development, 1978.
Garber, J.D., Lin, J.H. and Smith, L.G., Feasibility of Applying Cathodic Protection to Underground Culverts, Report No. FWWA/LA-91; Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development, Baton Rouge, LA, USA, 1991.
Wadi, A., Pettersson, L. and Karoumi, R., FEM simulation of a full-scale loading-to-failure test of a corrugated steel culvert, Steel and Composite Structures, 27(2), 217–27, 2018.
Xu, C., Peiris, A. and Harik, I. (2019), Analysis and load rating of corrugated steel arch culverts”, Ce/Papers, 3(3-4), 85–90, 2019.
Liu, Y., Hoult, N.A. and Moore, I.D., Structural performance of in-service corrugated steel culvert under vehicle loading, Journal of Bridge Engineering, 25(3), 4019142, 2020.
Okeil, A., Ulger, T. and Elshoura, A., Live Load Rating of Cast-in-Place Concrete Box Culverts, Report No. FHWA/LA.17/593; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA, 2018.
Acharya, R., Han, J., Parsons, R.L. and Brennan, J., Field testing and numerical modeling of a low-fill box culvert under a flexible pavement subjected to traffic loading, Geomechanics and Engineering, 11(5), 625–38, 2016.
Beben, D., and Wrzeciono, M., Numerical analysis of steel-soil composite (SSC) culvert under static loads, Steel and Composite Structures, 23(6), 715–26, 2017.
Sun, Q., Peng, D. and Dias, D., Seismic performances of three- and four-sided box culverts: a comparative study, Geomechanics and Engineering, 22(1), 49–63, 2020.
Garg, A. and Abolmaali, A., Finite-element modeling and analysis of reinforced concrete box culverts”, Journal of Transportation Engineering, 135(3), 121–28, 2009.
Acharya, R., Han, J. and Parsons, R.L., Numerical analysis of low-fill box culvert under rigid pavement subjected to static traffic loading, International Journal of Geomechanics 16(5), 4016016, 2016.
AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications 8th. Ed., American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials; Washington, DC, USA, 2017.
SAP2000, Integrated Software for Structural Analysis and Design, Berkeley, California: Computers and Structures Inc, 2014.
Ulger, T., Okeil, A.M. and Elshoura, A., Load testing and rating of cast-in-place concrete box culverts, Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, 34(2), 4020008, 2020.
ASTM C42, Standard method of test for obtaining and testing drilled cores and sawed beams of concrete, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, USA, 2013.
AASHTO The Manual for Bridge Evaluation 2nd. Ed., American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials; Washington, DC, USA, 2011.