Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology STUDY OF FAILURE PROFILES IN THE BRIDGE STRUCTURES RAZIEH AMIRI Master Thesis in Technology and Safety In The High North - TEK-3901 - October 2019 I Title: Date: STUDY OF FAILURE PROFILES OF BRIDGES 15.10.2019 Classification: Not confidential Author: Number of Pages: RAZIEH AMIRI 120 Number of Appendix: 1 University: The University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway (UiT) Faculty: Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology Department: Department of Technology and Safety Master Program: Technology and Safety In The High North Supervisor: Maneesh Singh External Organization/ Company: Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen) Keywords (max 10 words): Civil infrastructure, Bridge structures, Failure profile, Reliability Abstract (max 150 words): Bridge safety is an indispensable part of transportation safety. However, each bridge is unique with respect to its material, design and the environment which it is located in, and other relevant factors. This makes defining a unified framework for studying and categorizing failures in the bridges a difficult task. The current report aims at taking the first step to reach such a goal. This report addresses the issue of the bridge failure. First, it introduces different bridge characteristics. The emphasis is on introducing different types of bridges including differences in the design, material, structure forms, load type, condition and environment. In the second part, the report focuses on failure profile for the bridge structures. This includes discussing different failure causes, failure mechanism, and their corresponding modes and types. Finally, the findings from the first two parts are applied in a sample case study. The data is from BRUTUS, the database of Norwegian Public Roads Administration (SVV). This data includes the information of the 152 bridge structures located in Trondheim municipality. The data provides information on the bridge characteristics e.g. material type, bridge design, application and age. The bridges in Trondheim are categorized based on the characteristics and their failure status are investigated based on the risk matrices. II III TABLE OF CONTENTS PART 1 – INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW .......................................................................... 1 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 5 1.1 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................... 5 1.2 AIM AND OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT ............................................................. 6 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ......................................................................................... 6 1.4 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT ........................................................................................ 6 1.5 MOTIVATIONS ......................................................................................................... 7 1.6 PROJECT LIMITATIONS.......................................................................................... 8 1.7 REPORT STRUCTURE.............................................................................................. 8 PART 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................... 11 2 BRIDGE CHARACTERISTICS AND ELEMENTS ...................................................... 15 2.1 SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES..................................................................................... 15 2.2 LITERATURE STUDY LIMITATIONS ................................................................. 16 2.3 BRIDGE CHARACTERISTICS AND ELEMENTS ............................................... 16 2.4 MAIN AND TYPICAL PARTS OF BRIDGES.................................................... 17 2.5 BRIDGE CHARACTERISTICS ............................................................................ 21 2.5.1 MATERIAL TYPES ........................................................................................ 22 2.5.2 AGE ................................................................................................................... 23 2.5.3 SPAN HEIGHT, LENGTH AND /OR HEADROOM ...................................... 23 2.5.4 PORTABILITY ................................................................................................ 24 2.5.5 STRUCTURE FORMS AND DESIGNS ....................................................... 24 2.5.6 ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................................. 34 2.5.7 INSPECTION ASSESSMENT........................................................................ 37 2.5.8 CONDITION INDICATORS .......................................................................... 38 2.5.9 APPLICATIONS AND LOAD TYPE ............................................................ 39 IV 2.5.10 ROUTE SUPPORTED AND OBSTACLES CROSSED .......................... 39 2.6 SUMMARY OF BRIDGE CHARACTERISTICS ................................................... 40 3 DESCRIPTION OF RELIABILITY AND FAILURE PROFILE IN BRIDGES ............ 45 3.1 LIFETIME PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS, RELIABILITY AND FAILURE ............................................................................................................................. 45 3.2 FAILURE CAUSES .................................................................................................. 49 3.2.1 DESIGN FAILURE .......................................................................................... 50 3.2.2 CONSTRUCTION FAILURE ......................................................................... 50 3.2.3 AGING FAILURE ............................................................................................ 50 3.2.4 MISHANDLING FAILURE ........................................................................... 50 3.3 FAILURE AND DETERIORATION MECHANISMS ............................................ 50 3.3.1 CHEMICAL ...................................................................................................... 51 3.3.2 PHYSICAL ....................................................................................................... 51 3.3.3 THERMAL ........................................................................................................ 51 3.4 FAILURE MODES ................................................................................................... 54 3.5 FAILURE TYPE ....................................................................................................... 55 3.5.1 WEAR-OUT FAILURE ................................................................................... 55 3.5.2 AGING FAILURE ............................................................................................ 55 3.5.3 SUDDEN FAILURE ........................................................................................ 55 PART 3 – CASE STUDY ........................................................................................................ 57 4 CASE STUDY ................................................................................................................. 61 4.1 SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES..................................................................................... 61 4.2 CASE STUDY LIMITATIONS, ASSUMPTIONS & POSSIBLE SOURCE OF ERRORS .............................................................................................................................. 61 V 4.3 DATA ........................................................................................................................ 63 4.3.1 SOURCE OF DATA .......................................................................................... 63 4.3.2 METADATA (DATA DESCRIPTION) ............................................................ 64 4.4 RESULTS .................................................................................................................. 72 4.4.1 OVERALL RESULTS ....................................................................................... 72 4.4.2 RESULTS FOR THE BRIDGES WITH POOR AND VERY POOR CONDITION PERFORMANCE INDICATORS ............................................................ 79 4.4.2.1 CONSEQUENCE TYPES .......................................................................... 79 4.4.2.2 BRIDGE STRUCTURE FORMS ............................................................... 80 4.4.2.3 SUBCOMPONENTS FOR UNIFORM BOX/ TUBULAR CULVERT AND SIMPLY SUPPORTED STRUCTURES ........................................................... 81 4.4.2.4 FAILURE MODE AND EFFECTS ANALYSIS (FMEA) FOR UNIFORM BOX/TUBULAR CULVERT ...................................................................................... 85 5 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................. 93 PART 4 –CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 95 6 CONCLUSION AND FURTHER STUDIES .................................................................. 99 7 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 103 APPENDIX A: DATA ........................................................................................................... 107 VI VII LIST OF TABLES Table 2-1: Elements Significant to Structural Integrity (TfL, 2011). ...................................... 20 Table 2-2: Type of