Out-of-plane buckling strength analysis for typical single tube CFST arch bridge by finite element method

To provide practical calculation method for analyzing the out-of-plane stability of single tube CFST arch bridge and the out-of-plane elastic stability of typical single tube CFST arch bridge was analyzed by finite element method. Firstly, the basic structural data and statistic parameters of 25 single tube CFST arch bridges were collected and analyzed using statistical approaches. Secondly, on the basis of the existing data, the finite element models of three types of typical single tube CFST arch bridges with span lengths of 50∼59 m, 60∼69 m and 70∼79 m were established and their safety performance were examined. The basic assumption of using elastic stability coefficient to analyze the outof- plane elastic stability of typical arch bridge and the calculation methods for vertical and transverse loads were provided. Different finite element methods were adopted to analyze the out-of-plane stability of typical arch bridges and the finite element calculation methods for out-of-plane stability of typical arch bridges were determined. The results indicate that the finite element model of the typical single tube CFST arch bridge established based on the statistic data is able to reflect the actual condition of the structure, and it is proper to use stability coefficients of dead and live loads to calculate the out-of-plane load bearing capacity and the ultimate load bearing capacity of typical arch bridges.