Billah, AHM MuntasirNayeem, Mostansir Billah2024-05-072024-05-072024-04-23Nayeem, M. B. (2024). Temperature distribution and gradient effects on steel-concrete composite girder bridge (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.https://hdl.handle.net/1880/11868210.11575/PRISM/43524Thermal loads are a crucial environmental component that significantly affects the performance of bridges, especially under extreme climate conditions. Previous research suggests that under extreme climate situations, the impact of temperature may surpass that of dead and live loads, hence emphasizing the need to study the temperature gradient effect. While numerous studies have investigated the effects of temperature variations on concrete or steel bridges, relatively limited exploration has been conducted on the thermal effects experienced by steel-concrete composite bridges. Given substantial disparities in thermal performance between steel and concrete, understanding the temperature field and gradient effect in steel-concrete composite box girder bridges is paramount for both engineers and researchers. However, determining the temperature field within composite bridges requires more sophisticated modeling and analysis. Analytical methods often face challenges in providing accurate temperature field results due to the complex geometry and boundary conditions in real structures. Consequently, numerical simulation has emerged as the most effective approach to estimating the temperature field of bridge structures. The overall objective of this research is to investigate the impact of temperature field and local climatic conditions on the thermal response of steel-concrete composite girder. This study involves developing an efficient Finite Element (FE) model of a dimensionally reduced steel-concrete composite bridge girder to assess the structural effects of a 24-hour simulated temperature field through a sequentially coupled thermo-mechanical analysis technique in Abaqus. The three-dimensional numerical model is validated against existing experimental results conducted in a laboratory environment. Results demonstrate that under similar thermal boundary conditions, composite bridge girder specimens with varying concrete strengths exhibit discernible variations in stress values. Additionally, this study also presents a refined simulation approach utilizing Canadian location-specific historical weather and climate data to analyze the temperature field of a steel-concrete composite girder bridge in Calgary. The utilization of historical meteorological data ensures that the simulated thermal responses closely align with the actual environmental conditions experienced by the bridge. This finite element model can be used as an effective tool for predicting temperature fields by accounting for the unique climatic data of individual bridge locations.enUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.Temperature fieldFinite Element AnalysisConcrete strengthComposite bridgesThermal loadsClimate conditionsEngineering--CivilEngineeringmaster thesis