All ETDs from UAB

Advisory Committee Chair

Fouad H Fouad

Advisory Committee Members

James Davidson

Jason Kirby

Talat Salama

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

2008

Degree Name by School

Master of Science in Civil Engineering (MSCE) School of Engineering

Abstract

Lateral-torsional buckling is a significant consideration in the design of steel bridge girders during construction. Because I-girders have inherently weak torsion resistance, designers provide cross-frames and/or diaphragms at close spacing intervals to minimize the susceptibility of individual girders to instability during construction. A recent increase in fatigue problems around discrete brace connections, along with the costs of fabrication, erection, and inspection associated with cross-frames, has prompted the removal of the minimum spacing requirement from bridge specifications and created great interest in identifying alternative construction bracing approaches. Although permanent metal deck forms (PMDF) are widely used in the construction of steel bridges today, the stability they may provide is not considered in construction sequence engineering. The overall objective of this project was, therefore, to improve bridge design efficiency and construction safety by developing strength definition and engineering methodology that considers the contribution of PMDF to stability during the construction of steel girder bridges. Global tasks included the following: (1) synthesizing all relevant literature; (2) synthesizing state-of-the art design and construction practice relevant to PMDF, including connection details, (3) developing preliminary engineering approach and concepts and identify research focus, and (4) using advanced finite element methodology to develop and verify proposed design methodology.

Included in

Engineering Commons

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