Temperature Effect Analysis of Bridge Bearings in a Steel Beam During High-temperature Asphalt Concrete Pavement Paving

The temperature effect induced by high-temperature asphalt concrete has an adverse influence on the stability of orthotropic steel bridge decks. This research aims to investigate the temperature effect of high-temperature asphalt concrete pavement paving on the structural safety of steel bridge bearings. Based on the strengthening reconstruction project of the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge, the element deletion method was used to simulate the dynamic paving of asphalt concrete, and a temperature field model of a steel beam model with densely distributed bridge bearings was developed. The temperature field characteristics of the steel beam were analyzed according to the results of numerical simulation and field monitoring, and, by calculating the responses of bridge bearings under different conditions, the temperature effect of the bridge bearings during paving and its influencing factors were investigated. The results show that the temperature of the steel bridge deck increases rapidly at first, and then it decreases at 12 min after paving. The highest temperature of the steel bridge deck is 96. 1 °C during the paving of hot-mixed epoxy asphalt concrete (with a paving temperature of 185 °C) in summer, and the maximum temperature difference along the vertical of the steel beam is 55 °C. Large reaction forces of bridge bearings are present during paving, and the reaction forces increase dramatically with the increase in pavement width. The maximum vertical tensile force would exceed the allowable range of bridge bearings if the width of the paving area is >5 m, and the maximum transversal reaction force would exceed the allowable range of bridge bearings if the width of the paving area is > 8 m. For a steel beam with several continuous fixed bearings along the longitudinal direction, the number of continuous fixed bearings has little influence on the vertical and transverse reaction forces, but the longitudinal reaction force significantly exceeds the allowable range of bridge bearings, which could pose a safety hazard. The findings of this research could provide theoretical support for the paving scheme of asphalt concrete and bridge-bearing disposal for similar bridge-bearing systems. © 2022 Xi'an Highway University. All rights reserved.