An experimental and numerical study on the behavior of a continuous orthotropic bridge deck with sandwich construction

The buckling of steel-polyurethane sandwich bridge deck is studied via experiment and nonlinear numerical calculations, the authors first analyzed the stress distribution of key points of a three-span continuous bridge deck with sandwich structure in the state of budding. and then analyzed the influence of the changes of several size parameters on the buckling modes and the critical loads. The results show that when the sandwich bridge deck is compressed, the closer to the middle section in mid-span, the greater the longitudinal compressive stress on the steel faceplate, but the smaller the longitudinal compressive stress on the bottom of the stiffening ribs. The longitudinal stresses on the steel faceplate and the bottom of the longitudinal stiffeners are unevenly transversely distributed near the ends of the applied force, but the stresses are gradually uniform near the midspan section. When this kind of sandwich bridge deck is designed, its thickness should be selected first, and then adjust the spacing of the longitudinal stiffening ribs in order to reduce workload and save material.