A Simple Mathematical Model for Extreme Flood Actions on Superstructures of Coastal Bridges

Authors

  • George T. Michaltsos School of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15875 Athens, Greece https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3710-6944
  • Dimitrios S. Sophianopoulos Department of Civil Engineering, University of Thessaly, 38334 Volos, Greece https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4504-1565
  • Theodor G. Konstantakopoulos Department of Civil Engineering, University of Thessaly, 38334 Volos, Greece

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37256/est.3220221316

Keywords:

coastal bridges, rocking, overturning shifting, flood actions, dynamics of bridges

Abstract

Coastal bridges may be strongly affected by extreme flood actions (mainly tsunamis), which may be caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other underwater explosions (including detonations, landslides, glaciers calvings, meteorite impacts, and other disturbances) above or below water. A simple mathematical model for analysis, processing, and easy yet effective mathematical manipulation is proposed and studied with the aid of simple principles of hydraulics, for investigating the aforementioned effects, in order to avoid rigorous analyses using ocean and coastal engineering. The main idea is based on the investigation of a water vein squirted from a height with a constant horizontal initial velocity, and the analysis of the critical wave in water veins. The results obtained, including the dynamics of deck superstructures and safety issues, reveal the critical situation for avoiding the devastating phenomena of rocking, overturning, and shifting in exemplary small and large coastal bridges. It is found that larger (longer) bridges exhibit acceptable deformations, contrary to smaller ones, while the overturning phenomenon seems to be the most critical one for both types of bridges.

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Published

2022-07-25

How to Cite

[1]
G. T. Michaltsos, D. S. Sophianopoulos, and T. G. Konstantakopoulos, “A Simple Mathematical Model for Extreme Flood Actions on Superstructures of Coastal Bridges”, Engineering Science & Technology, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 240–270, Jul. 2022.