Investigation of elasto-plastic seismic response analysis method for complex steel bridges

Multi-scale model can take both computational efficiency and accuracy into consideration when it is used to conduct elasto-plastic seismic response analysis for complex steel bridges. This paper proposed a method based on pushover analysis of member sharing the same section pattern to verify the accuracy of multi-scale model. A deck-through type steel arch bridge with a span length of 200m was employed for seismic response analysis using multi-scale model and fiber model respectively, the validity and necessity of elasto-plastic seismic analysis for steel bridge by multi-scale model was then verified. The results show that the convergence of load-displacement curves obtained from pushover analysis for members having the same section pattern can be used as a proof of the accuracy of multi-scale model. It is noted that the computational precision of multi-scale model can be guaranteed when length of shell element segment is 1.40 times longer than the width of section where was in compression status. Fiber model can only be used for the predictions of the global deformations and the approximate positions of plastic areas on steel structures. However, it cannot give exact prediction on the distribution of plastic areas and the degree of the plasticity.