The bridge analysis can be used to compute influence lines for traffic on bridge structures and to analyze these structures for the response resulting from vehicle live loads. The vehicle live loads can be combined with static and dynamic loads, and envelopes of the response can be computed.
Displacements, spring forces and frame-element internal forces can be determined because of the influence of vehicle live loads. Other object types (area, solid and link) may be used; they contribute to the stiffness of the structure, but they are not analyzed for the effects of vehicle live loads.
Select vehicle live loads from a set of standard highway and railway vehicles, or create your own vehicle live loads.
The general process for completing bridge analysis is as follows:
Create the bridge model (i.e., specify the geometry) as described in the Define Bridge Loads topic or using the Bridge Modeler, which can be accessed using the Bridge menu commands or the Bridge Wizard. A special license is required to use the Bridge Modeler. Note that the Help topics for creating a bridge model using the define bridge loads approach or the Bridge Wizard also mention or hyperlink to several of the following steps of this bridge analysis process.
Display influence lines, or if the Bridge Modeler (see above) has been used to created the model, use the Display menu > Show Forces/Stress command to review the model results.
See Also
General Process for Using Bridge Modeler