NUMERICAL MODELLING OF THE TRAFFIC INDUCED VIBRATION ON BRIDGES

Numerical modelling of Vehicle-Bridge Interaction is needed for advancing the understanding of bridge vibration levels and assess their safety. These simulations are complex, encompassing a wide range of influential factors, including traffic loads, environmental conditions, and roadway surface quality. Traffic loads introduce varying levels of operational stress on bridges, with a range of magnitudes and frequencies that could impact structural performance. Environmental factors, such as temperature fluctuations, wind forces, and seismic activity point out additional long-term challenges to structural integrity. Road surface roughness also plays a crucial role, affecting both vehicle performance and the structural health of bridges. By accurately integrating such variables into numerical simulations, it is possible predict and analyse the multifaceted interactions between vehicles and bridges under realistic operational scenarios. To incorporate, assess, and understand the impact of these phenomena on the mechanical behaviour of bridges, efficient simulation of bridge response is essential. In this paper, an approach to the numerical modelling of the problem is illustrated and discussed. A three-dimensional beam-based model incorporating the coupled bending-torsional response of bridges is introduced. On the other side, a simplified vehicle model, is coupled to the beam, based on the contact point paradigm. This numerical approach is employed to estimate the dynamic responses efficiently, bypassing the complexity of three-dimensional models that require detailed contact relations between subsystems. The flexibility and robustness of the framework are demonstrated through numerical validations.