A knowledge foundation and prospect review on thermal response of bridges

Abstract

Amidst the rapid global expansion of bridge infrastructure, insufficient consideration of thermal effects during the design, construction, and maintenance of bridges persists, resulting in high-cost incidents and escalating safety concerns. A comprehensive understanding of thermal responses in bridges is essential not only for enhancing the safety and reliability of construction processes but also for minimizing long-term operational losses. As of December 2024, using CiteSpace and VOSviewer, a bibliometric analysis was conducted on 2190 publications from the Web of Science, generating the first comprehensive knowledge map of bridge thermal behavior. The field has evolved through four stages from the 2000 to 2024, progressing from theoretical and empirical modeling to finite element methods and, more recently, multi-physics coupling and digital twin technologies. Major research hotspots include spatiotemporal temperature gradients, AI-driven thermal monitoring, and macro-micro thermal effects on concrete structures. A novel fluid-solid-thermal interaction (FSTI) framework combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) wind fields with ABAQUS heat transfer modeling reveals internal thermal differentials during cantilever construction and large-volume concrete casting. Future research is expected to focus on AI-enhanced digital twins, the distribution of temperature fields under extreme climates, and probabilistic models linking thermal environments to structural damage.