NUMERICAL INVESTIGATIONS ON THE BUCKLING BEHAVIOR OF STIFFENED PLATES OF A HOLLOW BOX SECTION WITH DIFFERENT LAUNCHING BEARINGS”

The master thesis aim is to investigate, through a finite element model, how the presence of the bottom flange affects the stability of the steel section, during the process of the incremental launching of steel bridges. In particular, two types of constraints have been analyzed (one rigid and the other elastomeric) on two different types of launching bearings (one with a spherical knot and the other with a simple discharge). Additionally, this thesis investigates the effect of a possible eccentricity of the load, due to the imperfect alignment of the constraint with respect to the section. The realization of the model, and therefore the application of the boundary conditions, are based on laboratory tests carried out at the Chair of Metal Structures of the TU of Munich during the period January/February 2018. The numerical surveys have been carried out using the 𝐴𝑛𝑠𝑦𝑠 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ 18.0 finite element calculation software, and because of the possibility of modifying the 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ content by writing a 𝐽𝑎𝑣𝑎 𝑆𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡, the entire model has been created within a 𝑃𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑛 𝑆𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡, reducing not only the dimension of the entire project, but also optimizing the entire process by entering parameters. The choice to analyze the overall behavior of the section stems from the desire to compare the results of this model with the experimental data extrapolated during the tests.