To the Question of Consideration of Co-Operating Width in Thin-Wall Bridge-Deck Orthotropic Structures.

The problem of co-operating width of orthotropic plates of thin-wall bridge-deck structures has been given much attention after several cases of failures and collapses of structures of this type reported from abroad. The results have shown that attention should be given to the non-linear character of stress distribution in the orthotropic plates of this type of bridges. The authors discuss the problem of approximate determination of the co-operating width of these structures with open or closed box-shaped sections. The authors close their reflections by the conclusions stating the need of taking into account the non-uniform normal stress distribution over the width of the orthotropic plates and the possibility of neglecting initial curvature when calculating the co-operating width of the bridge-deck structure provided they do not exceed the values specified by the standard.