LARSA 2000/4th Dimension:

Bridge Analysis
Table of Contents
Tendons 3
Moving Load Analysis 8
Influence-Based Results 9
Linear Result Combinations 18
Extreme Effect Groups 19
AASHTO LRFD 1998 Code 20
Indian Roads Congress Code 23
Prestressing can be defined as the preloading of a structure to improve its performance, most commonly used in
the design of structural concrete. The prestressing of concrete involves application of a compressive loading using
tendons which are steel strands placed in concrete members.

Pre-tensioned versus Post-tensioned

The prestressed concrete members can be placed in two categories: pretensioned or post-tensioned.
Pretensioned prestressed concrete members are produced by stretching the tendons between external
anchorages before concrete is placed. As the fresh concrete hardens, it bonds to steel. When the concrete
has reached the required strength, the jacking force is released, and the force is transferred by bond from
steel to concrete.
In post-tensioned members, the tendons are stressed after the concrete has hardened and has sufficient
strength by jacking against the concrete member itself.

LARSA has the ability to model both types, however we will concentrate on post-tensioned members, in which
tendons are stressed after the concrete has hardened by jacking the tendons against the concrete members.

Tendon Modeling Technique

The magnitude of prestressing force is not constant, but assumes different values along its length as well as varies
during the life of the member. All changes must be accounted in the design. Some of the changes are instantenous
which are usually identified as short-term losses. Some are time-dependent and others are a function of the
superimposed loading. In order to account all these changes in LARSA, the tendon force is discretized along its
length to achieve the following:

Account for the variation of force along the tendon length caused by friction due curvature and wobble and
seating of the tendon at stressing.
Account for losses in prestressing due to creep and shrinkage.

The tendon modeling technique used in LARSA is known as Equivalent Load through Discretization of Tendon
Force. This method has the advantage of implicitly accounting for nonprismatic sections -a condition that is
common in bridge construction.An added advantage is that when the primary moment at each section is computed
using the adjusted force at the section, the prestress losses along the tendon are included.

For a tendon idealized as a series of straight segments there is a gradual stress loss along each segment due to
wobble friction. The component of friction due to curvature (angle change) is concentrated at the intersection of
the segments. Hence the force distribution is represented by a series of sloping lines with steps at the discretization
points.

Using this method in LARSA, the immediate prestress losses are rigorously accounted and the long term losses are
approximated.With the iterative solution method employed in LARSAnonlinear analysis, at each iteration the
prestress losses are adjusted on the basis of the current prestressing force. The current prestressing force is then
used to compute the equivalent forces which will in turn change the long-term losses. The iteration is continued
until convergence is achieved. The convergence implies that the current prestressing force do not change when
compared to previous iteration. This confirms the long term losses approximated at the beginning of the iteration
is equal to the actual values.

Frictional Loss
For post-tensioned members, the tendons are usually anchored at one end and stretched with the jacks at the other
end.As the steel tendon slides through the duct, frictional resistance is developed. The tension at the anchored end
is less than the tension at the jack. The total friction loss is the sum of the wobble friction due to unintentional
misalignment, and the curvature friction due to the intentional curvature of the tendon. These effects are
considered separately, then combined in LARSA. The relationship between the jacking force and the reduced force
at a distance on the tendon is Ps = Px e(Kl + ma) where Ps is the prestress force at the jack and Px is the reduced
value Px at a distance L from the jack. e is the base of the natural logarithms.
Anchorage Slip
In post-tensioned members, when the jacking force is released, the steel tension is transferred to the concrete by
special anchorages. Inevitably, there is small amount of slip at the anchorages upon transfer, as the wedges seat
themselves into the tendons or as the anchorage hardware deforms. Anchorage slip loss may be compensated for
by overstressing, provided its magnitude is known. Anchorage slip is taken into account in LARSA's tendon
calculations.

Elastic Shortening of the Concrete

The stress loss in each tendon due to elastic shortening of concrete will depend on the total number of tendons in
the concrete member and the sequence of stressing. When the prestressing force is transferred to a concrete
member, there will be elastic shortening of the concrete as it is compressed. For post-tensioned members having a
single tendon, the elastic deformation of the concrete takes place when the jacking force is applied, and there is
automatic compensation for elastic shortening loss, which therefore need not be calculated. If all the steel tendons
in a post-tensioned beam are tensioned at the same time, there will be no loss due to elastic shortening.

However, for the common case where multiple tendons are used, with the tendons tensioned in sequence, there
will be losses due to elastic shortening of the concrete. As each tendon is stressed, the compression in concrete
member increases. The elastic shortening of the concrete due to the increase in compressive stress causes a loss of
prestressing force in tendons which were previously stressed and anchored. For example: the first tendon will lose
stress when the second is tensioned, the first and second will lose stress when the third tendon is stressed. The
elastic shortening loss is calculated for each tendon starting with the last tendon, for which there will be no loss
due to elastic shortening.

Creep and Shrinkage Loss

Drying shrinkage of concrete permits a reduction of strain in the prestressing steel equal to the shrinkage strain of
the concrete. The loss of tensile stress in the steel resulting from the shrinkage can be computed by multiplying the
strain by the modulus of elasticity of the prestressing steel. In stage analysis whcih is based on the step-by-step
approach, the amount of shrinkage occuring in the specific time interval is the difference between the shrinkage at
the beginning of the interval and that at the end.

Steel Relaxation Loss

Prestressing steel exhibits a property known as relaxation which is defined as the loss of stress in a stressed
material held at a constant length. Relaxation is not short-lived phenomenon and needs to be accounted because it
causes significant loss of prestress force. When prestrssing steel is stressed to the levels that are customary during
initial tensioningPrestressing tendons are held stressed at essentially constant length during the lifetime of a
member when we ignore the reduction in length due to concrete creep and shrinkage. The amount of relaxation
varies depending on the type and grade of steel. The most significant parameters are time and intensity of initial
stress. The amount

Tendon Geometry
The geometry of a tendon is defined by a series of geometry and path-only points, as described in the User's
Guide. The tendon will pass through each of the geometry points. The path of the tendon between the geometry
points may be a straight line, or it may be fit to a curve using one of two techniques. The curve-fitting technique
applied between two geometry points is chosen based on the curvature type at the two end points of the segment.
The curvature types are (refer to the diagram below):

No Curve. The tendon will have a sharp corner at this point. The neighboring segments at this point will
be tangent to the imaginary line connecting this point to the previous/next
Tangency Angles. At this point in the tendon's path, the tendon will be tangent to a line in the specified
direction. The angles are in the local coordinate system of the reference member for the geometry point. If
zero is specified for both angles, the tendon will be parallel to the member.
Curvature Radius. The tendon's path from the previous point to the next point will follow the
circumference of a circle with the specified radius.

When Tangency Angles are used, the tendon's path is fit to a cubic equation. Although not depicted in the figure
above, a tendon's path may extend into three dimensions. In this case, two cubic equations are solved
independently for the tendon's profile in two planes. As a result, the tangency angles may not be 90 or 270
degrees. If these angles are needed, consider changing the direction or orientation of the member to put the local
axes in a different direction.

For more information:

For a tutorial on modeling a tendon, see Creating Tendons [in LARSA 2000 Samples and Tutorials].
In a standard Moving Load Analysis, LARSA generates all of the load cases for a load pattern (vehicle) moving on
a user-defined path (lane). A linear elastic static analysis is performed on each generated case.
In addition, multiple lanes can be loaded simultaneously. To load multiple lanes simultaneously, include them in
one moving load case. When multiple lanes are loaded simultaneously, the load patterns move in tandem.
In this analysis, load patterns are applied directly to the members specified in a lane. No automatic distribution is
performed. To distribute a vehicle over multiple girders, a lane must be created for each girder, and all of those
lanes must be loaded simultaneously (by including them in one moving load case) with load factors.
For more information on modeling lanes and preparing a moving load analysis, see the User's Guide.
The results for each position of the load pattern are stored. For each lane of length L with a load pattern moving in
increments of DL units, L/DL load cases are generated, solved, and stored for later use.
The standard Moving Load Analysis cannot be used for load patterns which have variable-position loads, such as
variable-length trucks used in design codes. If it could be used this way, the number of generated load cases would
increase by at least a factor of 10 because cases would need to be generated for each possible truck length. If
multiple trucks need to be applied to the lanes, then again the number of generated cases increases. As a result,
analysis time and disk space usage would increase by the same factor. Instead, influence-based results, explained
in the next section, are used.
The moving load analysis is a linear analysis and therefore the analysis cannot include nonlinear elements such as
cable elements or compression-only foundation spring type nonlinear elements. If nonlinear elements are used,
their corresponding linear counterparts are substituted during the analysis.
For more information:
For a tutorial on running a moving load analysis, see Moving Load Analysis [in LARSA 2000 Samples
and Tutorials].
Influence-based results are used to find the positions of load patterns that produce the most extreme effects on the
structure.
Like the Moving Load Analysis [in LARSA 2000 Reference], influence-based results consider the effect of load
patterns (vehicles) as they are placed on lanes, but unlike the former type of analysis, influence-based results do
not require all permutations of load positions to be pre-computed by the analysis engine.
Influence Line Method
Using influence lines, the effect of just a unit load on a structure can be used to determine the effect of any
arbitrary load on the structure. This is done by multiplying the effect of the unit load by the magnitude of the
actual load.
For instance, if a 1-kip load at the center of a particular member produces a 5-kip reaction in joint 1, then a 50-kip
load on that same member will produce a 250-kip reaction in that same joint. Furthermore, if a 1-kip load on
member A produces a 5-kip reaction in joint 1 and separately a 1-kip load on member B produces a 12-kip reaction
in joint 1, then a 50-kip load on member A and simultaneously a 15-kip load on member B produces a 50*5 +
15*12 = 430-kip reaction in joint 1.
Linearly combining these reactions is valid under the assumptions of a linear analysis.
The effect of a single unit load can therefore be used to determine, without further analysis, the effect of any
combination of loads of any magnitude.
When the effect of a vehicle on the structure is needed, the effect of each axle is computed from unit load
computations already applied in the same positions as the axles. If the axles of a vehicle follow a lane, then the
effect of a unit load on the structure at each position on the lane is sufficient to determine the effect of any
arbitrary vehicle placed anywhere on that lane.

One may then isolate a particular result, such as the reaction of a joint in a particular direction. For each position
of the unit load on a lane there is a reaction. This produces what is called an influence line, depicted to the right.
All of the influence lines for all results in a structure are grouped together in LARSA as influence data. Influence
data allows LARSA to generate results for any loads placed on the lane that generated the influence data.
An influence-based case is used to apply one or more load patterns to a lane such that for each result data request,
the numbers returned reflect the minimum or maximum value for any position of the load pattern on the lane. For
instance, the results for a joint reaction in z-force will reflect the worst z-reaction for that joint for all positions of
the load pattern. The results for another joint will reflect the worst reaction for that joint. The position of the load
pattern may not be the same for the two joints.
The influence-based case uses the method described above to generate the data from the influence line. The graph
to the right shows an influence line for z-moment in a member at a particular station along the member. The three
arrows indicate the hypothetical positions of the axles of a truck on the lane that produce the greatest negative
moment. The moment is calculated by linearly combining the values of the influence line at those three points and
the magnitudes of the loads at each axle.
Because loading can only be computed at locations where a unit load has been placed, vehicle axles may not be
applied at their exact locations. If the unit load was run with a 2-foot increment, then the location of vehicle axles
will be rounded off to the nearest 2-foot station.
Distributed (uniform and partial) loads can also be used in influence-based cases. The effects of these loads are
computed by summing the effects of all unit loads that are within the loaded region, multiplied by the magnitude
of the distributed load and by the spacing between unit loads.

Axle Spacing and Multiple Load Patterns

A standard moving load analysis deals with one variable: the position of the load pattern on the lane. When this is
the only variable, a moving load analysis is preferred over the influence-based method
However, when other variables come into play, such as variable-spaced axles and the positions of multiple load
patterns, the moving load analysis simply cannot iterate through each possible value of all of the variables. Such
an analysis may take days or years to complete.
The influence-based method does not have such a limitation. Influence-based results involving all of these
variables can be computed, and in some cases can even be reported in real time.
Load patterns with variable-position axles can be used in influence-based results. In that case, the results will
reflect the axle spacing that produced the most extreme effect.
When multiple load patterns are applied to a lane, a minimum spacing between load patterns is also specified. The
results will reflect the position of all of the load patterns that produced the most extreme effect, such that no two
patterns are within the specified distance. LARSA will place as many load patterns on the lane so as to produce the
most extreme value. If the best position of a load pattern does not contribute to an extreme value, it is not
considered.
In order for influence-based results with multiple load patterns to be computed, the influence engine cannot try
every permutation of variables. Instead, it employs several techniques to avoid poor choices of load patterns which
are not mathematically guaranteed to find the most extreme values. They are generally very accurate, however.

Lane (Patch) Loading

Lane loads can generally be modeled as a uniform member load. Some codes, such as AASHTO and BS5400,
require that the location and/or magnitude of lane loading be dependent on where the loading contributes to the
extreme effect. Rather than manually applying uniform member loads to just the members that contribute to the
extreme effect of a result, repeated for each desired result, influence-based cases support lane/patch loading
according to several codes.

In influence-based cases, the lane load is effectively computed by integrating the area under the influence line and
multiplying the result by the magnitude of the lane load.

The lane load can optionally be applied as per the BS5400 code, which adjusts the magnitude of the lane load
depending on the length of loaded region.

Lane loading is computed by adding together the effect of all of the unit loads within the loaded regions.
If the Extreme Force Effects option (explained next) is not specified, then lane loading is applied along the entire
length of the span, without regard to whether the loading will produce the most extreme values.

Extreme Force Effects

In certain bridge design codes, extreme force effects must be used. When using extreme force effects, loading that
does not contribute to the value under consideration must be ignored. In the previous figure, the left-most axle
would not be included under extreme force effects because a minimum (most negative) moment was being sought,
but the axle produced a positive moment. The influence-based moment would therefore be a linear combination of
only the front two axles.

Extreme force effects applies to lane loads as well. For lane loads, only the portion of the lane which contributes to
the minimum or maximum under consideration are included in the integration. The shaded area of the figure to the
left depicts the area under the influence line that reflects the lane load for the maximum z-moment in the member
using extreme force effects.

Using extreme force effects is an option for influence-based result cases. When activated, it is used for both axle
positions as well as the lane load.

Transverse Loading
Loading offset from the lane perpendicular to the direction of travel (i.e. eccentric or transverse loading) will cause
additional moments on the lane that cannot be computed from the influence line as described above. An additional
unit-moment influence line is used together with the force-based influence line to compute the effects of
transverse loading.

Most load patterns in the standard load pattern database do not including any transverse loads: all loads are
lumped on the centerline of the lane. Use The Database Editor [in LARSA 2000 User's Guide] to check whether a
load pattern is specified as lumped on the centerline or with transverse loads.

Transverse loading occurs in two circumstances: 1) loads in a load pattern are given transverse offsets or 2) a
transverse offset is specified for all loads applied in an influence-based case.

Specifying a transverse offset for an influence-based case is used to model a design lane that is offset from the
girder that takes its load. This is useful because it makes creating an input lane [see "Lanes" in LARSA 2000
Reference] for each design lane unnecessary. Only a single input lane, specified on the centerline of the bridge
girder, is necessary to compute the effects of vehicles on parallel lanes.
If a transverse offset is specified for the influence-based case and a load in a load pattern has a transverse offset,
then the sum of the transverse offsets is used when computing the effect of the load. That is, the transverse offset
for the influence-based case shifts the transverse offsets of all loads applied.

In both cases of transverse loading, the effect, R, of a point load with magnitude P and transverse offset E on the
structure is computed from the value of the unit-force influence line, f, and the value of the unit-moment influence
line, m, at the position of the point load as follows: R = Pf + PEm.

Influence-based transverse loading cannot be computed from an influence line that itself included eccentricity. If
the lane is offset from the member centerlines, then the eccentric effect of loads placed directly on that lane are
already computed. Additional transverse offsets from the lane cannot be specified in the influence-based case, and
the offset-distance of loads in load patterns will be ignored. All loading will be applied directly on the lane.

Getting Results
Influence data is generated for a lane by running a moving load analysis on that lane using the special load pattern
"INFLUENCELOAD" (found in each of the standard load pattern databases). This special load pattern is merely
applied as a one-unit load at each position on the lane. The load may be applied in a global or local direction.
Following the moving load analysis, graphs may be used to view the influence lines generated for the results for
each element in the structure.

To create an influence-based case, open the Results menu and choose Influence Based Case. From here you will
choose load patterns and the lane to which the load patterns should be applied. Choose the lane from the list on the
left, which will show all influence results generated by the steps in the previous paragraph.
On the right, choose up to three different load patterns to apply. Load patterns are presented from the connected
databases (see Connecting Databases [in LARSA 2000 User's Guide]). LARSA will apply as many as can be
placed on the lane simultaneously so as to produce the most extreme effect. For each load pattern, specify a factor
to increase or decrease the mangitudes of those loads by the factor. In addition, specify the maximum number of
times to apply the load pattern to the lane. If Max # is given as 5, then LARSA will place at most five "trucks"
based on that load pattern on the lane.

A minimum distance between load patterns can also be specified. If this is left as zero, then load patterns may be
placed back-to-back on the lane.

Optionally specify a transverse offset and an additional lane load, explained earlier.
Click OK to create the new case. The case will appear in the Analysis Results Explorer.

The influence-based case can provide results in the same manner as any other load case, through the spreadsheet
or graphically. The results returned reflect the positive and negative worst-case possibility for the application of
the load pattern on the selected lane.

Because influence-based results search for a minimum and maximum, LARSA must know which column from a
result spreadsheet to envelope on. If LARSA is enveloping on the member's z-moment, the member's
corresponding y-moment will not be theminimum/maximum y-moment but instead will be the y-moment
produced from the same axle positions that produced the greatest z-moment. In this way, an entire row of a
spreadsheet comes from the same axle positions. You must use envelopes to view influence-based results so that
LARSA knows which value to envelope on.

Not all graphical results use envelopes automatically. These results, which include deformed model, cannot be
viewed for influence-based cases. The other results, such as member stresses, automatically envelope on the
variable being displayed. If axial force is being shown graphically, then the influence results will envelope on
axial force.

Because influence-based results are calculated on-the-fly (that is, when the actual data is requested), each data
request involved calculating the extreme values. Influence-based results will operate slower than standard results,
but they do not require additional analysis time or hard drive space.

To have LARSA compute influence-based results only the first time they are needed and store them for later use,
use the option Cache Dynamic Results, which can be found in the Tools menu under Options > Analysis Options.

Use of LARSA's influence-based cases for AASHTO and IRC loading is explained in detail in later sections.
For more information:
For a tutorial on running an influence-based analysis, see Influence-Based Moving Load Analysis
[in LARSA 2000 Samples and Tutorials].
Linear Result Combinations provide the ability to dynamically combine multiple result cases. Whereas load
combinations combine load cases defined before an analysis, linear result combinations combine result cases after
an analysis without the need to reanalyze the structure.

Linear result combinations operate by summing together the results of multiple cases. Factors may be applied to
the cases to achieve a weighted linear combination. These calculations are performed on-the-fly (when the actual
result data is requested), and the results are not saved. Thus, linear combinations will perform slower than pre-
analyzed results, but no extra analysis time or hard drive space is needed to form the combinations.

Any type of result case may be used in a linear result combination. Two dead load cases may be combined
together, for instance. Or, one step in a time history analysis can be combined with one position of a load pattern
from a moving load analysis.

Linear result combinations have several additional uses for influence-based results. Because an influence-based
result case has the effect of only one lane's loading, linear result combinations can be used to combine multiple
influence-based cases. The result -a linear combination of linear combinations of influence line data -represents
the combined worst-case effect of multiple lane loadings. Furthermore, influence-based cases can be combined
with static or live load cases for use with design codes.

To create a linear result combination, open the Results menu and choose Linear Combination. Select the result
cases to be combined and enter any factors, if needed. A name for the case will be supplied automatically, but the
name may be changed if needed. Click OK to create the new case. The case will appear in the Analysis Results
Explorer.

For more information:

See Linear Result Combinations [in LARSA 2000 User's Guide].
Extreme Effect Groups represent the worst case scenario from a set of result cases.

Like linear result combinations, extreme effect groups are another method of grouping result cases. They generally
be thought of as envelopes that can be saved, but these groups have many uses.

For each result data request, an extreme effect group returns the data from the one case in the group that had the
most negative or positive value. Extreme effect groups can also be thought of as a "pick one," because only the
data from the case with the most extreme values are shown.

Extreme effect groups operate similarly to linear result combinations and influence-based results. The most
extreme case returned for joint 1's x-reaction may not be the same as the extreme case returned for joint 2's x-
reaction. Similarly, each station along a member may come from a different result case.

Each row in a spreadsheet comes from only one result case. If an envelope is requested for y-moment, then the y
moment will reflect the minimum and maximum extreme values. The other columns in the spreadsheet, such as
axial force, will not be extremes --instead they will correspond to the result cases that had the min/max y-moment
for that row.

Extreme effect groups will never return a maximum that is negative or a minimum that is positive. This follows
the definition of extreme effects used in influence-based results and differentiates extreme effect groups from
simple envelopes.

Extreme effect groups can only be used when enveloping result data. As with the influence-based results, not all
graphical results are enveloped and so they cannot be used to display extreme effect group results.

Although envelopes of result data can be quickly found by selecting multiple cases in the Analysis Results
Explorer, the list of cases which make up these on-the-fly envelopes cannot be saved for later use. Furthermore,
the data from those envelopes cannot be used in linear result combinations. Extreme effect groups achieve a
similar result but do not have these limitations.

Extreme effect groups may be very useful in arranging result cases along the requirements of design codes. Their
use in the AASHTO LRFD and IRC codes is described later in this document.

For more information:

See Extreme Effect Groups [in LARSA 2000 User's Guide].
This section describes how to make use of influence-based results for design under the AASHTO LRFD 1998
code.
The influence-based results in LARSA 2000 were developed based on the provisions in the AASHTO LRFD
Bridge Design Specifications, Second Edition, 1998 for the application of design vehicular live load (section
3.6.1). Influence-based results can, however, be applied for any design specifications. This section uses that code
as an example.
In the AASHTO LRFD code, a lane is loaded with combinations of a Design Tandem, Design Truck, and a Design
Lane Load. LARSA's standard load pattern database consists of the following two load patterns suitable for this
code:
HL-93 Design Truck in conformance with AASHTO LRFD 3.6.1.2.2. This truck has three axles of 8, 32,
and 32 kips spaced (a minimum of) 14 ft. apart. The spacing between the two 32 kip axles may vary
between 14 ft. and 30 ft. to produce extreme force effects. (Loads are lumped on the centerline of the lane,
so no transverse effects are considered. To consider transverse effects and the contact area of wheels, use
the load pattern "HL-93 Design Truck T/C." The T/C load pattern does not include the variable axle
spacing: the rear spacing is 14 ft.)
HL-93 Design Tandem in conformance with AASHTO LRFD 3.6.1.2.3. The design tandem consists of a
pair of 25 kip axles spaced 4 ft. apart. (Loads are lumped on the centerline of the lane, so no transverse
effects are considered. To consider transverse effects and the contact area of wheels, use the load pattern
"HL-93 Design Tandem T/C.")

Below is an organizational chart describing the data in LARSA2000 that will produce results which can be used
with the AASHTO LRFD code.

Data is built up on five levels. Each level is visible to the user to evaluate the individual load effects and to ensure
higher levels are defined properly.
The lowest level (E) is the input data to the analysis engine. This input data consists of the geometry of the
structure as well as the moving load definitions for each lane. The analysis computes the influence line data (D)
for each lane. Influence-based result cases (C) must then be formed. An explanation of influence-based cases
appears earlier in this document.
One influence-based case (C) must be created for each possible type of lane loading:
1. Use the HL-93 Design Tandem load pattern, with Factor = 1 and Max # = 1. Include the uniform lane load of
0.64 kip/ft.

2. Use the HL-93 Design Truck load pattern, with Factor = 1 and Max # = 1. Include the uniform lane load of 0.64
kip/ft.

3. Use the HL-93 Design Truck load pattern, with Factor = 0.9, Max # = 2, and minimum vehicle spacing of 50 ft.
Include the uniform lane load of 0.9*0.64 = 0.576 kip/ft. (This differs from the AASHTO specifications, which
specify that the rear axle spacing of the truck in this condition is to be taken as 14 ft. Because this load pattern has
a variable axle spacing, LARSA will find the axle spacing that produces the most extreme effect.)

The Design Truck, Design Tandem, and Design Lane Load are all subject to the extreme force effects provision in
AASHTO LRFD section 3.6.1.3.1, as noted in the figure. Influence-based cases must be marked to account for
extreme force effects (explained earlier in this document).
The extreme force effect for any data value is then taken from the larger of the three influence-based cases. This is
accomplished by creating one Extreme Effect Group [see "Extreme Effect Groups" in LARSA 2000 User's Guide]
(B) for each lane's influence-based cases.

Finally, if there is more than one lane, each lane's results must be multiplied by a factor and combined to produce
the total effect on the structure. A weighted Linear Result Combination [see "Linear Result Combinations" in
LARSA 2000 User's Guide] (A) of each lane's Extreme Effect Group will yield the results needed by AASHTO
LRFD 3.6.1.

A similar application of these tools could be used for similar design codes.

For more information:

For a tutorial on running an influence-based analysis, see Influence-Based Moving Load Analysis
[in LARSA 2000 Samples and Tutorials].
The influence-based results in LARSA 2000 are capable of supporting the requirements of the Indian Roads
Congress Code 6-2000 Section II. This section explains how to set up influence results for use with that code.
Load Patterns

In the IRC code, a lane is loaded with several load patterns. LARSA's standard load pattern database for IRC loads
consists of the following:

IRC Class AA Tracked

IRC Class AA Wheeled
IRC Class 70R Tracked
IRC Class 70R Wheeled
IRC Class 70R Bogie
IRC Class A Vehicle
IRC Class B Vehicle

For the Class AA Wheeled and Class A and B vehicles, two patterns are available for each vehicle, one in which
the tires are modeled as point loads and one in which the tires are modeled as distributed loads, using the tire
contact areas specified in the code. The load pattern definitions in the database are marked Point or Distributed
accordingly. Use of the point load versions is recommended.
The load patterns are modeled with transverse offsets as specified in the code. Thus, each axle is modeled as two
loads (except in the AA and 70R Wheeled vehicles which have four loads per axle).
Tire contact area in the transverse direction is included in the load pattern definition but is ignored for the purposes
of influence-based analysis.

Design Lanes
The carriageway is modeled as an input lane [see "Lanes" in LARSA 2000 Reference] which follows the centerline
of the bridge girder. The design lanes are the paths on which vehicles are positioned for design purposes. A typical
bridge model will contain one carriageway (one input lane) and many design lanes.
LARSA's influence-based results assume the loading for all vehicles is directed onto a single girder, but using
design lanes as explained here allows the loading to be placed offset from the girder.
A design lane is specified as a carriageway lane plus a transverse offset. If there is only one lane, the transverse
offset is zero. If there is more than one lane, the transverse offsets of design lanes should be as follows
(carriageway width = 1.0):
2 Lanes: -0.25, +0.25
3 Lanes: -0.333, 0.0, +0.333
4 Lanes: -0.375, -0.125, +0.125, +0.375
5 Lanes: -0.4 -0.2, 0.0, +0.2, +0.4
6 Lanes: -0.416, -0.25, -0.0833, +0.0833, +0.25, +0.416

Several load patterns occupy two lane-widths: the Class AA and Class 70R patterns. To achieve the effect of
loading the vehicles on two lanes, these patterns should be loaded midway between the adjacent lanes they occupy
by creating their own "design lanes." The transverse offsets for the design lanes for these patterns should be as
follows:
2 Lanes: 0.0
3 Lanes: -0.166, +0.166
4 Lanes: -0.250, 0.0, +0.250
5 Lanes: -0.3 -0.1, +0.1, +0.3
6 Lanes: -0.333, -0.166, 0.0, +0.166, +0.333

The IRC code calls for the computation of the worst-possible effect of a train of vehicles on each design lane.
LARSA will compute these values through influence-based cases.

Influence-Based Cases
Each loading of each design lane will be solved in a separate influence-based case. Thus, each influence-based
case represents one vehicle + lane situation.
A 4-lane carriageway will be used as an example throughout this guide. For 4 lanes, 10 influence-based cases are
needed:

1. 4 for loading the Class A trains on each of the four design lanes. Call these A1, A2, A3, A4.

2. 3 for the midway lanes for loading the Class AA vehicle. Call these T1, T2, T3.

3. 3 for the midway lanes for loading the Class AA vehicle. Call these W1, W2, W3.
In this example, Class A and AA vehicles will be used where a choice between A/B and AA/70R exists.
Each influence-based case should be set up as follows:

Select the input lane that represents the carriageway centerline. Influence line data for all design lanes
comes from the one input lane because all loads are applied to the members of that girder.
Specify the transverse offset of the design lane. Appropriate moments will be applied to the bridge girder
based on this offset as well as the offsets specified in the load patterns.
Choose the load pattern to apply. For the main design lanes, choose the Class A Train or other load pattern
as appropriate. For the midway lanes, choose the Class AA or 70R Tracked or Wheeled patterns.
Do not specify a loading factor. (Reductions for simultaneous loading will be made later.)
Specify the maximum number of occurrences of the load pattern to apply to the design lane. The
maximum number can be calculated as (lane length -min vehicle spacing) / (vehicle length + min vehicle spacing).
Higher numbers will take longer to compute, however. LARSA will load as many vehicles as needed to compute
the most extreme values.
Specify the minimum nose-to-tail spacing between vehicles.
For the Class AA/70R vehicles, 90 meters is given in the code. (The spacings between the vehicle nose
and the first axle and the last axle and the vehicle tail are already taken care of in the load pattern definition.)
For the Class A/B vehicles, 18.5 meters is given in the code. (The spacings between the vehicle nose and
the first axle and the last axle and the vehicle tail are already taken care of in the load pattern definition.)
Do not specify the Load for Extreme Effects option, as this is not required by the IRC code.
Do not specify any lane loading, as this is not required by the IRC code.

Here is a summary of the influence-based cases that should be created for a 4-lane bridge:

Finding Severest Conditions

The IRC code calls for the more severe of the tracked or wheeled versions of the Class AA/70R patterns to be
considered. Picking the more severe of a set of cases is accomplished through Extreme Effect Groups [see p19].
Extreme effect groups always report the most extreme value from a set of result cases for each result returned.
Taking stresses as an example, the stress values for one member may come from a different result case than the
stress values on another member. Extreme effect groups will show whichever case has the most extreme maximum
(or minimum) for each member.
For this code, an extreme effect group must be made for every pair of wheeled/tracked influence cases for the
same design lane. In the 4-lane example above, 3 extreme effect groups are needed: one for each of the mid-way
design lanes. The three cases would be:

1. Worst of T1 and W1.

2. Worst of T2 and W2.

3. Worst of T3 and W3.

For this example, call these cases AA1, AA2, AA3.

Here is a summary of the extreme effect groups that should be created for a 4-lane bridge:
Loading Combinations
The IRC code calls for many combinations of loaded lanes and vehicle types to be considered. The influence-
based and extreme effect group cases created so far only represent the loading on a single design lane at a time.
The combined effect of loading on two or more lanes can be obtained through Linear Result Combinations [see
p18] of the result cases created above.
Linear result combinations operate by summing together the results of multiple cases. Factors may be applied to
the cases to achieve a weighted linear combination. The summation calculations are performed the first time they
are requested by the user.

When there are 4 design lanes, continuing the example, one way to load the lanes under the IRC code is to place
one Class AA on the left two lanes and one Class AA on the right two lanes. This is computed by adding together
1) the effect of loading the design lane between the left two lanes (L1/2) with the most severe of the AA tracked
(T1) and wheeled (W1) vehicle and 2) the effect of loading the design lane between the right two lanes (L3/4) with
the most severe of the AA tracked (T3) and wheeled (W3) vehicle. Because T1/W1 and T3/W3 have already been
combined in extreme effect groups AA1 and AA3, this is more simply computed by summming together AA1 and
AA3.

In this example, a linear result combination would be used to add together the effects of the result cases AA1 and
AA3. The result is a linear result combination that represents the structure loaded with two lanes of Class AA.
Another way to load the lanes is to place the Class AA vehicle on the center two lanes (AA2) and to load the
outside lanes each with Class A (A1 and A4). Although AA2 is an extreme effect group and A1 and A4 are
influence-based cases, they can nevertheless be combined in a linear result combination (A1 + A4 + AA2).
The last way to load all four lanes is to place Class A on all four lanes. A linear result combination summing A1,
A2, A3, and A4 together should be created.

In addition to these combinations, combinations must be made for every way to load 3 of the four lanes, 2 of the
four lanes, and 1 of the 4 lanes to check whether loading fewer lanes will produce more extreme effects.
Fortunately, if the bridge is symetric about the lane (what's to the left of the lane mirrors what's to the right of the
lane), then the number of situations is reduced significantly as equivalent mirrored situations do not both need to
be considered.

Here is a summary of the load combinations needed to load a 4-lane bridge under the IRC code. Each item below
represents a linear result combination.

In addition, the cases AA1, AA2, and AA3 need to be considered for the two-loaded-lanes cases, and A1, A2, A3,
and A4 need to be considered for the one-loaded-lane cases.

Worst of all Combinations

The results for each possible situation of lane loading must be available directly in an influence-based result case
(e.g. A1 through A4) or combined through an extreme effect group
(e.g. AA1 through AA3) or linear result combination (e.g. S__). The engineer, however, only needs to see the
results for the worst of all of those possibilities
Extreme effect groups, again, are used for this task. Just as they were used previously to find the worst case
between the wheeled and truck vehicles, they can be used to report the worst of a set of situations.
An extreme effect group should be created to report the worst of all of the possible conditions called for by the
IRC code.

Results when more than two lanes are loaded need to be multiplied by a simultaneous loading factor. Applying
factors to load cases can be accomplied within the extreme effect group, so that the results returned from the group
include the appropriate factor.

For the 4-lane example, the final extreme effect group would include each of the 19 cases listed at the end of the
last section. The S4_ cases would be given a factor of 0.8 and the S3_ cases a factor of 0.9.
Although code checking is done only on this final extreme effect group and the results of the other 25 result cases
created for this example never need to be viewed individually, they are all involved in the final computation and
they remain available for investigating the results.

For more information:

For a tutorial on running an influence-based analysis, see Influence-Based Moving Load Analysis
[in LARSA 2000 Samples and Tutorials].
 Index
AASHTO
Bridge Analysis, bridge
Bridge Analysis, code
Bridge Analysis, combine
Bridge Analysis, extreme force effect
Bridge Analysis, influence line
Bridge Analysis, IRC
Bridge Analysis, linear combination
Bridge Analysis, LRFD
Bridge Analysis, moving load
Bridge Analysis, tendon
Bridge Analysis, truck
Bridge Analysis,