Dataset for large-scale, lateral-torsional buckling tests of continuous beams
Description
A number of large-scale tests of a grillage system are summarized and reduced data is provided. The tests were completed in association with a Louisiana Transportation Research Center (LTRC) project for the Louisiana Department of Transportation (LDOT) whose goal was to better quantify behavior and limit states of steel bridge floor systems to refine longitudinal member (stringer) load-rating calculations. A number of tests focused on the behavior of the stringers resting on transverse members (a floor beam) and loaded out of plane, a system akin to a grillage. The system was proportioned with the expectation that stringer lateral torsional buckling, a key steel bridge beam design and load-rating limit state, would occur. The provided dataset includes specimen descriptions, representative photos and output from 58 tests. Investigated parameters included: stringer unbraced lengths; bracing types (i.e. bolted steel diaphragms verses clamped timber struts); load locations; and support conditions. Sample tests are described, and reduced results summarized and presented. A number of large-scale tests of a grillage system are summarized and reduced data is provided. The tests were completed in association with a Louisiana Transportation Research Center (LTRC) project for the Louisiana Department of Transportation (LDOT) whose goal was to better quantify behavior and limit states of steel bridge floor systems to refine longitudinal member (stringer) load-rating calculations. A number of tests focused on the behavior of the stringers resting on transverse members (a floor beam) and loaded out of plane, a system akin to a grillage. The system was proportioned with the expectation that stringer lateral torsional buckling, a key steel bridge beam design and load-rating limit state, would occur. The provided dataset includes specimen descriptions, representative photos and output from 58 tests. Investigated parameters included: stringer unbraced lengths; bracing types (i.e. bolted steel diaphragms verses clamped timber struts); load locations; and support conditions. Sample tests are described, and reduced results summarized and presented.
Files
Steps to reproduce
To simulate bridge behavior, a full-scale grillage assembly was fabricated, constructed and tested in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Scott Engineering Center Structures Laboratory. The assembly was designed so that the middle stringer would serve as the test specimen and would be subjected to loads and boundary conditions closely matching those experienced in actual bridges. Stringers lateral torsional buckling was investigated under point loads with strain, vertical and lateral displacement being measured.