Getting orthotropic deck plates involved in the structural performance of the bearing structures of bridges made of aluminum alloys

Introduction. The article deals with getting an orthotropic deck plate, made of aluminum alloy EN-AW-6082 T6, involved in the structural performance of bearing structures of bridges; this type of plates is made by extruding composite plate elements, or hollow rods having closed rigid profiles of the pre-set shape, friction welding and mixing. These technologies are applied to make an orthotropic plate, a strong rigid metal structure that can be effectively integrated into the structural performance of bearing structures of a bridge superstructure to reduce the consumption of materials. Materials and methods. The object of the study is a conventional single-span road bridge, which is 8.06 m long. The bridge has two bearing I-beams, five transverse I-beams and a deck made of four orthotropic plates placed perpendicular to the bridge axis. The numerical simulation of this structure was conducted to determine the numerical parameters of a change in the consumption of materials for various applications of orthotropic plates in bridge deck structures. The ANSYS software package was employed to simulate the following three models: a model in which orthotropic plates were not involved in the structural performance; a model that had orthotropic plates involved in the structural performance, and a model that had optimized geometric dimensions of sections of principal bearing beams and plates involved in the structural performance. Results. The calculation results are provided in the form of diagrams of stresses and deflections along the bearing beams, the diagram of stresses in the cross-sections of bearing beams in the middle of the bridge span. Compared results of various calculation patterns are also provided. The amount of metal saved goes down with an 8–24 m increase in the span length, and it reaches 25–7 %, respectively. Conclusions. The authors present their research findings, evaluate the effectiveness of this approach applied to the design of bridge structures, and make a conclusion about the spans of structures that make this approach most effective.