Abstract
In this study, a three-dimensional vehicle–bridge coupled model is used to analyze the impact factors of bridges in service by considering the effect of the stochastic traffic flow and road surface progressive deterioration. A three-dimensional vehicle model with 18 degrees of freedom was adopted. An improved cellular automaton model considering the influence of the next-nearest neighbor vehicle and a progressive deterioration model for road roughness were introduced. Based on the equivalent dynamic wheel loading approach, the coupled equations of motion of the bridge and traffic flow are established by combining the equations of both the bridge and vehicles using the displacement relationship and interaction force relationship at the patch contact. The numerical simulations show that the proposed method can rationally simulate the impact factor of the bridge under the effect of stochastic traffic flow. Based on the existing highway bridge design code, expressions of impact factor for evaluating the dynamic responses of in-service bridges are proposed.
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