General reduced vehicle model for simulating truck-bridge pier collisions

Abstract

This study proposes a general reduced vehicle model for simulating truck-bridge pier collisions. The model was calibrated using high-fidelity finite element (FE) simulations based on LS-DYNA of three types of trucks (i.e., light, medium, and heavy) impacting with rigid bridge piers. Key parameters influencing the vehicular impact force, such as cross-sectional types and dimensions of piers, truck mass, impact velocity, and impact angle, etc., were systematically examined and included into the reduced model. Based on the FE simulation results, a multi-parameter nonlinear fitting of the parameters of the reduced vehicle model was performed. Finally, the general reduced vehicle model was coupled with elastic piers modelled by beam elements to perform coupled dynamic analysis, and the analysis results were compared with the FE simulation results. The results showed that the truck-pier coupling analysis method based on the above general reduced vehicle model can accurately reproduce at a significantly reduced computational cost the key parameters such as the impact force, pier deflection, cross-sectional bending moment and shear force, etc.

Keywords

• Vehicle collision
• Bridge pier
• Finite element simulation
• Reduced model
• Multi-parameter fitting
• Dynamic analysis