Abstract Summary
Bridges represent an essential part of the transport infrastructure network. During their lifetime, they have been subjected to several threats, which can be related to material degradation due to climate change and aging effects, increase of the traffic loads, extreme natural events or damage due to slow deformation phenomena. An advanced numerical modelling able to perform reliable collapse simulations and evaluate the residual bearing capacity is an effective practice for assessing the health of a bridge and for planning maintenance interventions when necessary. In this framework, a new modelling approach, called Applied Element Method (AEM), is emerging as a powerful tool for structural analysis applications. More in detail, it is based on a discretization of the structure into rigid solid elements, connected through a series of normal and shear springs distributed at the interfaces and reflecting the mechanical materials properties. Recent studies have demonstrated as AEM is capable of predicting with a high degree of accuracy the structural behavior from the elastic stage to crack initiation and propagation, steel yielding, up to element separation and collision. In this work, an AEM model of a curved roadway bridge undergoing slow landslide-induced movements was built and calibrated by using the results of ambient vibration testing and modal identification. A collapse simulation was carried out, predicting the deformation evolution of the bridge under increasing displacements caused by the slow landslide.
