Waqas Hafiz Ahmed, Waseem Muhammad, Riaz Abdullah, Ilyas Muhammad, Naveed Muhammad, Seitz Hermann
Department of Civil Engineering, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Topi, Swabi 23640, Pakistan.
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Marine Technology, University of Rostock, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 6, 18059 Rostock, Germany.
Materials (Basel). 2023 Feb 8;16(4):1409. doi: 10.3390/ma16041409.
The culverts are used to safely convey water under railways, highways, and overpasses. They are utilized in drainage areas or water channels and in areas where the bearing capacity of soil is low. The design and construction of this crucial infrastructure need to be improved to meet contemporary demands of reliability and affordability. Precast reinforced box culverts are popular alternatives as they ensure strength, durability, rigidity, and economy. This research seeks to develop an effective and affordable design improvement procedure for a precast box culvert using modern numerical tools. The Finite Element Method (FEM) based approach is used in studying the effects of haunch geometry and additional steel reinforcement on the load-bearing capacity of box culverts. A conventional box culvert is analyzed to create the numerical models in the Abaqus FEM code and to investigate the load-bearing capacity of culverts with an expanded span. The outcomes of the study reveal the critical places for stress concentration as well as the location of maximum damage. It is found that haunch geometry and additional reinforcement at these critical places significantly affect the load-carrying capacity of a culvert. From the comparison of capacity curves of models with and without haunches and diagonal reinforcement, it is found that a 25% increase in load-carrying capacity is achievable with the recommended changes. The proposed design improvement technique can be employed for the cost-effective and safe design of a concrete box culvert with larger span lengths and high water-flowing capacities. The findings of this study are expected to assist practitioners in strength enhancement tasks of box culverts for increased structural stability and drainage efficiency.
涵洞用于在铁路、公路和立交桥下方安全输送水流。它们应用于排水区域或水道以及土壤承载能力较低的区域。这种关键基础设施的设计和建造需要改进，以满足当代对可靠性和可承受性的要求。预制钢筋混凝土箱涵是受欢迎的替代方案，因为它们能确保强度、耐久性、刚度和经济性。本研究旨在使用现代数值工具开发一种有效且经济的预制箱涵设计改进程序。基于有限元法（FEM）的方法用于研究加腋几何形状和额外的钢筋对箱涵承载能力的影响。对一个传统箱涵进行分析，以在Abaqus有限元代码中创建数值模型，并研究跨度扩大的箱涵的承载能力。研究结果揭示了应力集中的关键部位以及最大损伤的位置。发现加腋几何形状和这些关键部位的额外钢筋显著影响涵洞的承载能力。通过对有和没有加腋及斜向钢筋的模型的承载力曲线进行比较，发现按照建议进行更改可使承载能力提高25%。所提出的设计改进技术可用于大跨度和高水流能力的混凝土箱涵的经济高效且安全的设计。本研究结果有望帮助从业者完成箱涵的强度增强任务，以提高结构稳定性和排水效率。
