Equivalent moment of inertia of a truss bridge with steel-concrete composite deck

Flexural stiffness of bridge spans has become even more important parameter since Eurocode 1 introduced for railway bridges the serviceability limit state of resonance. For simply supported bridge spans it relies, in general, on accurate assessment of span moment of inertia that governs span flexural stiffness. The paper presents three methods of estimation of the equivalent moment of inertia for such spans: experimental, analytical and numerical. Test loading of the twin truss bridge spans and test results are presented. Recorded displacements and the method of least squares are used to find an "experimental" moment of inertia. Then it is computed according to the analytical method that accounts for joint action of truss girders and composite deck as well as limited span shear stiffness provided by diagonal bracing. Finally a 3D model of finite element method is created to assess the moment of inertia. Discussion of results is given. The comparative analysis proves efficiency of the analytical method.