Investigating the Potential of Using High

Performance Concrete in Precast High Speed

Rail Bridges

Bradley Pring(&) and Ana M. Ruiz-Teran

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London,

London SW7 2AZ, UK
{bp711,a.ruiz-teran}@ic.ac.uk

Abstract. High Speed Railway (HSR) bridges are limited in design by the
sudden, heavy, repetitive nature of the vehicle loading. As a result, prestressed
concrete HSR bridges are stockier than highway bridges to ensure high mass,
stiffness and resistance. Different types of prestressed concrete bridges have
been implemented, with a number being constructed using prefabrication
techniques. However, the concrete currently used for HSR bridges uses con-
ventional strength levels. Considering the technological improvements that have
led to much stronger concretes being available, implementing these into HSR
bridges could bring significant benefits.
Experience of the use of High Performance Concrete (HPC) in HSR is lim-
ited, and the use of Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) is restricted to the
construction of only a small number of highway and pedestrian bridges.
Combining HPC and UHPC with prefabrication, utilising the multiple benefits
of precasting identified in literature, could optimise HSR bridge solutions.
However, investigations are needed to determine the impact of reducing the
bridge mass on the dynamic behaviour, potentially causing unsafe and/or
uncomfortable, increased acceleration levels in the bridge, which would not
satisfy the serviceability limit state of vibrations.
By performing parametric analysis on a finite element model of a HSR bridge,
potential geometrical and material strength changes are investigated to identify
their effect on acceleration levels of the bridge. From this the promising regions
where implementation of HPC and UHPC would be beneficial can be identified.

Keywords: High speed rail
Bridge
Accelerations
High performance

concrete

1 Introduction

Slender High Speed Railway bridges are often constrained in design by the dynamic
performance of the bridge. If accelerations are too high, derailment can become an
issue, or if the track is ballasted then ballast can be made unstable. Hence widely
accepted vertical acceleration limits in bridges of 3.5 m/s2 for ballasted track and
5.0 m/s2 for slab track are imposed. High Speed Railway vehicle loading is heavy and

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018

D.A. Hordijk and M. Luković (eds.), High Tech Concrete: Where Technology
and Engineering Meet, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-59471-2_276
2424 B. Pring and A.M. Ruiz-Teran

this leads to quite stocky bridges, relative to road bridges. In addition, vertical accel-
eration inside the vehicles is limited to 1.0 m/s2, to guarantee the user’s comfort.
The implementation of HPC offers potential to reduce the material usage, through
increasing the slenderness and reducing the thickness of parts of the cross section. This
reduction in material will mean a reduction in the mass and therefore could lead to
faster construction times, using lighter cranes and temporary works. This could lead to
a more sustainable design, reduced construction costs and a reduction in the demands
of other structural elements. The aims of the investigation is how to achieve lighter
sections of similar structural resistance, without compromising the serviceability limit
state of vibrations. Through using linear finite element models and parametric analysis,
the location of the limit to the reduction of mass is investigated in order for the bridge
vibrations to still satisfy the design criteria.

1.1 Precast High Speed Railway Bridges

Precast concrete bridges have several advantages over cast in situ concrete bridges.
These are displayed in Table 1. For precast rail construction the bridges may often be
simply supported or made continuous via additional prestressing bars. The level of
precasting on the bridge often depends on the construction methods and the design. In
some cases the bridge is constructed by partially precasting a beam, and then casting
in situ the slab, or casting insitu the whole cross section or precasting the whole section.

Table 1. Advantages and disadvantages of precast bridges (Morgan Girgis and Tadros 2007;
Rosignoli 2014; Hseih and Wu 2014)
Advantages Disadvantages
Good quality control Small margin for error
Cost reduction achieved with familiarity Requires repetition for financial
benefit
Less disruption to existing infrastructure during Joints can be a compromise to
construction durability
Low maintenance costs Less design flexibility
More fire resistant design Specialist/heavy lifting equipment
Faster construction times
Precasting in any weather conditions

In high speed rail according to Montagut (2010), spans of simply supported bridges
can achieve 30–35 m in length, and achieving between 1/10 and 1/12 span to depth
ratios. For a continuous bridge, more slender ratios can be achieved, reaching span to
depths of up to 1/14. This low ratio, compared to the span to depths achieved in
highway and pedestrian bridges respectively, are due to the larger weight and nature of
the loading of the train vehicles.
 Investigating the Potential of Using High Performance Concrete 2425

2 Methodology
2.1 Material
High performance concrete (HPC) is defined by Nawy (2001) to be a concrete with
high fluidity, low or negligible permeability, high workability and optimised perfor-
mance characteristics over conventional concrete. The strength is between 50 MPa and
150 MPa (Nawy 2001), although there is not one set definition, with Eurocode clas-
sifying it as strengths exceeding 55 MPa (C55/C67) (BSI 2004). The constituent
materials it contains differ little in comparison with traditional concrete, the main
difference is the reduction in water cement ratio from traditionally 0.65 to below 0.4
(Nawy 2001), although a greater proportion of finer aggregates are used to attain the
higher strengths. It is often desirable to add admixtures to alter certain concrete
properties, such as the fluidity or the curing time.
As the material reduces in water cement ratio, and the strength increases the mass
density of the HPC increases. The values given for concrete density given by fib
(2008), were adapted so that they match the density given by Eurocode (BSI 2004) for
the reinforced concrete as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Mass Variation of concrete used based on Eurocode and fib defined values

The HPC utilised in this work is considered to be linear, and as such yield strength
and plastic behaviour of the concrete is not modelled, a reasonable assumption for the
investigation of vibrations due to traffic loads in service. Hence as the strength of the
concrete increases, this is reflected with a change in the elastic modulus as identified in
Eq. 1 (fib 2008). The Poisson’s ratio value has not been modelled to change with the
concrete strength as this relationship is unknown. Hence, a value of 0.2 is used
throughout the modelling.
 1=3
fck þ 8
Eci ¼ Ec0
aE ; ð1Þ
10

Where Eci is the modulus of elasticity at 28 days (in MPa), fck is the characteristic
compressive strength of the concrete (in MPa), Ec0 is constant at 20.5  103 MPa, and
aE is an aggregate based factor.
2426 B. Pring and A.M. Ruiz-Teran

The concrete was modelled to have a structural damping coefficient of 0.01 (BSI
2010a), as specified by Eurocode for the reinforced concrete, implementing this with
the Rayleigh damping method using the coefficients of a and b. These coefficients were
determined based on the frequency of the first and second bending modes through a
frequency analysis of the bridge.

2.2 Vehicle Loading Model

In order to model the loading, a high speed load model from Eurocode (BSI 2010) was
taken and implemented into the finite element model. The chosen train model was
HSLM A7. The Eurocode load model requires study of all 10 HSLM variants, to cover
the full dynamic spectrum of loading anticipated from the range of vehicles operating
in Europe, to comply with the Specifications for Interoperability of the rail system in
the EU. A wide range of speeds are required by the Eurocode specifications in order to
model the full dynamic response, between a speed of 40 m/s, and 1.2  the line’s
design speed. However, only the maximum design line speed is tested for in this work,
350 km/h. For this initial study we have opted to focus on the acceleration levels in the
track, creating a simpler model that looks at a series of moveable point loads, rather
than the complexity of the loading described by a moving multibody train vehicle, with
the corresponding vehicle properties for that particular train line.

2.3 Bridge
The modelling was performed on an adapted high speed railway bridge from Spain on
the Córdoba-Málaga at Almodóvar del Rio Carretera. Originally, the prestressed
concrete bridge consisted of 29.9 m simply supported spans, with a precast U-beam,
and a cast-in situ slab. This bridge was adapted for the purpose of modelling, assuming
that the whole cross section was precast, hence assuming the connection between the
beam and the slab is rigid and that the concrete strength is a uniform C55 throughout
the cross section. In the modelling of this bridge the prestressing is ignored for linearity
and simplicity of modelling. The cross section is shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Cross section of the bridge. Annotations in metres.

 Investigating the Potential of Using High Performance Concrete 2427

2.4 Finite Element Model

The modelling was performed in the finite element software ABAQUS. The bridge was
modelled using shell elements (S4R), in order to truly represent the sectional defor-
mations of the deck which would not be reflected in a beam element model. Dia-
phragms were added to the section as well to avoid significant distortions at the end of
the beams, and to help load transfer from the top slab into the support.
The loading applied is spread from a point load to a pressure over an area, which
represents the fact that the loading on a real track will be transferred from the wheel to
the rail and then through the sleeper and the ballast, hence being distributed over an
area. This rate of spreading through the ballast is described in Eurocode (BSI 2010).
The ballast is not directly modelled and as a result the mass is accounted for by
inclusion of a non-structural mass.
The vertical acceleration was extracted from three locations in the cross section, the
quarter span, mid span and three-quarter span. This acceleration output consisted of all
modal frequency components, and according to BSI (2010a), the maximum considered
frequency should be limited to a maximum frequency

2.5 Parametric Analysis

A parametric analysis is undertaken to determine the effect on the bridge’s vertical
acceleration. Thirteen simulations were used to compare the original case to cases of
altered concrete strength and geometrical cross section thickness changes. The changes
compared to the original were implemented by applying factors to the original values.
For the geometrical changes, the vertical accelerations were independently calculated at
60%, 80% and 120% of the original thickness of the web, and then compared to the
accelerations obtained with the original case thickness. Likewise the same factors were
applied to the top flange and the bottom flange in separate simulations. In three more
simulations the concrete strength is altered from the original strength of 55 MPa
increasing to strengths of 80, 100 and 120 MPa (100, 145, 182 and 218% respectively).
Only one parameter is altered from the original case in each simulation.

3 Results and Analysis

When analysing the results it was found initially that with all cases the accelerations
were high. This was due to high frequency modes contaminating the signal. As in
Eurocode (BSI 2010a), the vertical acceleration limits applied to the bridge assume a
maximum frequency mode considered, so a Fourier transform was performed on the
signal in Fig. 3, as seen in Fig. 4. From the original Fourier transform, it was filtered
for frequencies above 30 Hz (to meet recommendations set by Eurocode (BSI 2010a),
such that frequencies above 30 Hz had the intensity set to zero. Through an inverse
Fourier transform the acceleration-time signal becomes more conservative as shown by
the filtered signal in Fig. 3.
Through the parametric analysis of the thicknesses of the geometry and the strength
the changes in the maximum magnitude of vertical acceleration is compared in Fig. 6.
2428 B. Pring and A.M. Ruiz-Teran

Acceleration-Time plot comparing filtered signal with original

5
4
Acceleration [m/s2]

3
2 Original Signal
1
0 Filtered signal
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time [s]

Fig. 3. Acceleration-time history of the model with concrete strength C120

Fourier Transform
10000
S(f) [m/s2/Hz]

8000 Cut Fourier

Transform
6000
4000 Original
2000 Fourier
0 Transform
0 20 40 60 80 100
Frequency [Hz]

Fig. 4. Fourier transform of acceleration-time signal for the bridge with concrete strength C120

Changing of the first bending mode

5.1 Web
Frequency [Hz]

4.9
Top Flange
4.7
4.5 Bottom Flange
4.3
4.1 Strength
3.9 First Excitation
50% 100% 150% 200% Frequency
Parameter Factor [-]

Fig. 5. Figure showing how the first bending mode’s frequency changes with parameter,
showing the first excitation frequency for comparison

This compares the acceleration levels at three points on the bridge and compares the
filtered data with the unfiltered values. A common theme is seeing that the accelerations
at the quarter span and three-quarter span are higher than the mid-span acceleration in
the unfiltered measurements, but in the filtered measurements the mid-span acceleration
is largest. This shows that higher modes are contributing significantly to the acceler-
ations at the quarter spans.
 Investigating the Potential of Using High Performance Concrete 2429

Web Thickness Top Flange

13 21

Acceleration [m/s2]
19
11
Acceleration [m/s2]

17
9 15
13
7 11
9
5 7
5
3 3
55% 75% 95% 115% 55% 75% 95% 115%
Parameter factor [-] Parameter factor [-]
Bottom flange Strength
12
17

Acceleration [m/s2]
Acceleraton [m/s2]

15 10
13
8
11
9 6
7
4
5
3 2
55% 75% 95% 115% 95% 125% 155% 185% 215%
Parameter factor [-] Parameter Factor [-]

Fig. 6. Graphs showing the difference between filtered data and unfiltered data. Also shows the
peak acceleration in the 1/4, mid and 3/4 spans.

The change in the acceleration with changing factor is not a consistent rate of
change. For example for changes to the top and bottom flange the increase in accel-
eration is greater between 80% and 60% than it is between 100% and 80%. This shows
a changing rate of increase. One of the possible reasons for this is the corresponding
change in natural frequency of the bending modes of the bridge as the parameters are
changed as shown in Fig. 5. As a result the first bending modes move towards the first
excitation frequency. When the frequencies match, the bridge will undergo resonant
behaviour, which in turn leads to higher accelerations. Although at the chosen factors
the bridge does not match the frequency of the excitation, due to the frequency dif-
ference being smaller, there is still a slight effect of resonance. The matching of a
frequency of the excitation with the frequency of the modes can result in irregular
increases in the acceleration for a particular parameter, which do not conform to the
general relationship.
When comparing the changing parameter factors on one plot, as shown in Fig. 7, it
can be seen that the rate of change of acceleration of the bridge for change in parameter
is very similar between the web and the strength whereas the top and bottom flanges
have much higher rate of changes. This is significant for further investigation because it
suggests that the implementation of the HPC alongside decreases in the thickness of the
2430 B. Pring and A.M. Ruiz-Teran

Comparison of Accelerations at Mid-Span Parametric analysis

13
Acceleration [m/s2]

11
9
7
5
3
50% 100% 150% 200% 250%
Parameter factor [-]
Web Top Flange Bottom Flange Strength

Fig. 7. Graph showing the comparison of the filtered accelerations at midspan under different
parametric analysis

web could be feasible without affecting the acceleration levels. However it suggests
that there would not be much material saving available by reducing the depth of the
flanges, and that even small changes to the thicknesses would need to be offset by a
large increase in the concrete strength. This may not prove to be financially viable.

4 Conclusion

In conclusion it is seen that there is potential to introduce HPC in order to save material
into the precast bridge construction, particularly saving material in the webs. The
increase in strength, through the corresponding change in elastic modulus and mass
across the whole section, would seemingly have limited effect on the process if con-
sidering only the top and bottom flanges for the material saving, as changing these has
a sizeable effect on the acceleration of the deck. These results are unverified and are
intended as to indicator the potential of HPC, rather than defined conclusions.
In order to develop clearer guidance on where to save material, further models are
required to be run, with a more detailed level of the different components. It will also be
necessary to investigate how the accelerations will vary when introducing simultane-
ously an increase in the concrete strength with a reduction in the geometry of the
section. In addition it would be interesting to extend the bounds of the strength to
UHPC levels that were not reached in this work.

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 Investigating the Potential of Using High Performance Concrete 2431

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