Simulation study on influence lines of lateral displacements at web measurement points of curved box beams

According to statistics from relevant authorities, accidents involving segmental fracture damage caused by excessive lateral displacement of curved box beams have occurred from time to time in recent years. To analyze the relationship between the load magnitude and lateral displacement of curved box beams, this study first derives the torsional angle from the vertical deflection of the box beam at different positions under moving loads and then obtains the distortion angle using the analogy method for beam on elastic foundation. A lateral displacement model is constructed based on the solved torsional angle and distortion angle. Finite element analysis is conducted by correlating Abaqus with Fortran subroutines to simulate the lateral displacement of web measurement points under the action of a unit moving load. The results show that the overall trends of the analytical results and finite element results for the lateral displacement influence lines are close, with the values at the peaks of the influence lines being basically consistent. However, there are significant deviations between the theoretical results and finite element results during the stages of increasing and decreasing lateral displacement.