Analysis of Biaxially Stressed Bridge Deck Plates

The ultimate state analysis of bridge deck plates at the intersection zone between main girders and transverse beams is complicated by biaxial membrane stresses, which may be in compression or tension in either direction depending on the bridge configuration and the specific location. This paper presents a detailed investigation of the ultimate capacity of simply supported plates subjected to biaxial loads.

The full interaction domain of combinations of compressive and tensile loads has been investigated including a large number of imperfections. It was found that non-standard imperfection modes in parts of the interaction domain lead to more critical and lower ultimate capacity than critical buckling mode imperfections.