Regional difference of value taking of effective temperature for steel-concrete composite girder bridges

A long-term field test was carried out on a segmental model of steel box concrete composite girder, and the accuracy of numerical simulation of temperature field was verified based on the measured data, in order to study the accurate value of effective temperature of composite girder bridges in different areas. The effective temperature samples were obtained by finite element method and meteorological correlation formula, and the representative values of effective temperature were calculated and compared based on generalized Pareto (GP) distribution model. 839 reference weather stations in China were investigated, and 91 stations with solar radiation data were simulated for 23 years. Furthermore, the correlation formula between effective temperature, air temperature and solar radiation was established. The contour map of effective temperatures was drawn by spatial interpolation method. Results show that the highest effective temperature ranges from 20.56 ℃ to 51.99 ℃, the lowest effective temperature ranges from −42.94 ℃ to 15.81 ℃, and the effective temperature range ranges from 26.16 ℃ to 87.57 ℃. In the contour map, the effective temperature range in about 1/7 of the national area exceeds the maximum value of 71 ℃ specified by the current codes, which brings great risks to the safe operation of bridges. Copyright ©2022 Journal of Zhejiang University (Engineering Science). All rights reserved.