Reliability analysis of a long span steel arch bridge against wind-induced stability failure during construction

An efficient and accurate algorithm is proposed to evaluate the reliability of long span steel arch bridges against wind-induced stability failure during construction. The algorithm is developed based on stochastic finite-element method. Uncertainties in static wind load-related parameters are incorporated in the algorithm. The proposed algorithm integrates the finite-element method and the first-order reliability method. A long span steel arch bridge with a main span length of 550 m built in China is considered as an illustrative example. Two different construction stages are chosen for reliability analysis. Construction stage I involves the construction process before closure of main arch ribs. At Construction stage II, all remaining parts of the bridge have been completed except the stiffening girder of the main span. Three components of wind loads (drag force, lift force and pitch moment) acting on both steel girder and arch ribs are considered in the study. Results of the study show that the steel arch bridge at construction stage II is more vulnerable to wind-induced stability failure than that at construction stage I. Further, a detailed parametric study show that the variations of wind speed with height, drag force of wind loads, design wind speed at the bridge site and static aerodynamic coefficients have significant effects on the probability of wind-induced stability failure during the construction stages for the steel arch bridge.