Analysis of slab and girder bridges by the finite strip method

Abstract

The finite strip method is used for the analysis of simply-supported and continuous slab girder bridge decks of constant width. New features presented herein include the derivation of the stiffness matrix of a beam and its coupling with strips, the derivation of the stiffness matrix of a strip with longitudinal variation in thickness, and the analysis of bridges with discrete internal column supports. The finite strip method requires the operation on narrow-band matrices of small order which can be easily carried out on a small capacity computer, and the computations involved are remarkably less than in other methods. Some of the results obtained by this method are verified by model testing while other results are compared with "exact" or approximate solutions. Good agreement has been observed for all cases. © 1970.