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Modeling, Simulation And Analysis Of Multi-Barge Flotillas Impacting Bridge Piers, Peng Yuan

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The current design code governing bridge structure resistance to vessel impact loads in the U.S. is the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' (AASHTO) Guide Specification and Commentary for Vessel Collision Design of Highway Bridges. The code stipulated method, based on Meir-Dornberg's equivalent static load method, is usually not warranted because of insufficient data on the impact load histories and wide scatter of the impact force values. The AASHTO load equations ignore certain fundamental factors that affect the determination of impact forces and bridge dynamic responses. Some examples of factors that are omitted during standard impact force …