Analytical Study on In-plane and Out-of-plane Responses of a Curved Floating Bridge

摘要

The in-plane and out-of-plane responses of a curved floating bridge that is vertically supported by pontoons and laterally held by shore abutments at two ends are studied analytically. The in-plane solution is derived based on strain compatibility. An Euler curved beam model is used to develop the solution to the out-of-plane response of the bridge. Trigonometric trial functions are adopted to approximate the vertical displacement and the torsional rotation of the curved beam. Both solutions are verified against FE analysis results and good agreement is found between the results. The studies will focus on the effect of end support stiffness on the in-plane response of the bridge and the out-of-plane response of the bridge subject to tidal variation.