Component sizing approach for the sandwich plate system

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2012

Abstract

The sandwich plate system (SPS) is a bridge deck system consisting of steel face plates bonded to a rigid polyurethane core. SPS bridges are typically constructed as a series of pre-fabricated SPS deck panels compositely connected with traditional steel girders. The decks are thin, lightweight and modular, and can be tailored to numerous applications including both new bridge and rehabilitated bridges.With new system, there exist hurdles in the implementation; for SPS, the primary challenge is the lack of an established design method for the panel cross-sections. Presented herein is a method for sizing SPS panel sections for bridge applications. This method is limited to the selection of steel plate and core dimensions, subjected to American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) limit states of serviceability, strength and fatigue and does not consider connections or bond aspects of the system. The sizing approach considers the deck panels as plates with variable boundary conditions subjected to the loading conditions of the AASHTO Load Resistance Factored Design (LRFD) bridge design specification. Results from this study indicate that the component sizing for SPS deck panels is controlled by stiffness and that plates selected to satisfy the AASHTO limiting deflection criterion will also be adequate for the remaining serviceability, strength and fatigue limit states. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Publication Title

Structure and Infrastructure Engineering

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