Analysis of spatially periodic structures. Application to bridge deck analysis

Abstract

Structures with multiple identical elements that are joined in a chain-like fashion are called spatially periodic structures. These system, either cyclic structures (close chains) or traslational structures (open chains), can be analysed using a simplified procedure. The behaviour of the whole structure under arbitrary loading can be obtained by a repetitive analysis of elemental structures of the same size as the one of identical elements. In this way structures with a very large number of degrees of freedom can be studied with a relatively small computational effort. Some simple illustrative examples are given and a practical application case is also presented.