Engineering Structures 25 (2003) 1665–1674

www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

A consideration on intermediate diaphragm spacing in steel box

girder bridges with a doubly symmetric section
Nam-Hoi Park a, Nam-Hyoung Lim b, Young-Jong Kang a,∗
a
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea University, 5-1, Anam-Dong, Sungbuk-Ku, Seoul, 136-701, South Korea
b
Track and Civil Engineering Research Department, Korea Railroad Research Institute, 360-1, Woulam-Dong, Uiwang-City, Kyounggi-do,
437-050, South Korea

Received 29 November 2002; received in revised form 4 June 2003; accepted 5 June 2003

Abstract

Diaphragms in box girder bridges are implemented primarily to prevent premature excessive distortional deformation under
torsional loading condition. Distortional warping and transverse bending stresses, which are the major stress components resulting
from distortion, should be appropriately limited to a specific level for efficient use of the cross-section by installing adequate
intermediate diaphragms. The objectives of the present study are to develop a thin-walled box beam finite element and to propose
tentative design charts for adequate spacing of intermediate diaphragms. The developed beam element possesses nine degrees of
freedom per node and the validity was intensively verified from a series of comparative studies using a conventional shell element.
Also, performed herein are extensive parametric studies for continuous box girder bridges of doubly symmetric steel box section.
The design parameters taken into account were the desired ratio of the distortional warping normal stress to the bending normal
stress, the number of spans, the span length, the aspect ratio of the box section, and the spacing of the intermediate diaphragms.
The results were summarized into tentative design charts indicating efficient spacing of intermediate diaphragms for the various
stress ratios.
 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Diaphragm; Spacing of intermediate diaphragm; Distortional warping; Transverse bending; Box beam finite element

1. Introduction limitation of the ratio of the distortional warping normal

During the past several decades, box girder bridges
have been constructed due to their large bending and
torsional rigidities. However, box girders are susceptible
to cross-sectional distortion under an eccentric loading
condition. Unless distortion of the box girders is appro-
priately limited, the box girder bridges may experience
significant premature distortion of the cross-section,
which may produce excessive distortional warping and
transverse bending stresses. In order to prevent these
problems, in general, intermediate diaphragms are
installed in the box girder bridges. Design guidelines
related to the intermediate diaphragms have been pro-
vided to fulfill the following two requirements; one is
∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-82-2-3290-3317; fax: +1-82-2-
921-5166.
E-mail address: yjkang@korea.ac.kr (Y.-J. Kang).
stress to the bending normal stress, and the other is limi-
tation of the transverse bending normal stress [1,2].
Many studies associated with analyses of box girder
bridges have been performed over the last four decades.
However, although many researches, the number of rese-
arches on the distortional analysis related to the inter-
mediate diaphragms is quite limited. The study related
to the distortional analysis of box girders was initiated
by Dabrowski who first formulated the distortional
phenomenon of box members with a symmetric cross-
section [3]. Later, several studies were undertaken
regarding the distortional analysis of the structures to
give design guidelines on the intermediate diaphragms
[4,5]. More recently, other research efforts have been
imparted on the analytical and experimental studies asso-
ciated with the diaphragms in the box girder bridges.
Nakai and Murayama [6] developed three approximation
equations to estimate the distortional warping stresses in
the box girder bridges subjected to a uniformly distrib-

0141-0296/$ - see front matter  2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0141-0296(03)00145-7
1666 N.-H. Park et al. / Engineering Structures 25 (2003) 1665–1674
uted load, a distributed line load and a concentrated load,
respectively. Yabuki and Arizumi [7] performed the ana-
lytical and experimental studies for the normal stress dis-
tribution due to the distortional deformation in the cross-
section of single-span box girder bridges. From para-
metric studies using analytical approach, they proposed
a spacing provision of the intermediate diaphragms to
limit the distortional warping normal stress to 5% of the
bending normal stress. Megson and Hallak [8,9] carried
out analytical and experimental studies to determine the
optimum design of the stiffened/unstiffened bearing dia-
phragms of box girders with various support conditions.
Although a few researches were performed for the
spacing of the intermediate diaphragms, the application
is quite limited because only fixed values of the ratio
of the distortional warping normal stress to the bending
normal stress were used. In fact, the policy limiting the
distortional warping normal stress to merely 5% of the
bending normal stress has been adopted by the Hanshin
Expressway Public Corporation of Japan, whereas 10%
limitation has been used in the design specifications by
the American Association of State Highway and Trans-
portation Officials (AASHTO) [1,2]. It should be noted
that limiting the stress ratio to a specific value may be
convenient for design practicing but may lead to very
uneconomic design practices, too. Noting that the cost
for fabricating intermediate diaphragms is much higher
than other elements, it is quite meaningful to develop
design provisions for adequate spacing of intermediate
diaphragms with respect to various desired stress ratios.
Among the numerous previous studies, however, no
research has ever been pertinent to adequate spacing of
the intermediate diaphragms with respect to various
desired stress ratios and internal force ratios. The
internal forces, such as bending moments, torsional
moments, and distortional bimoments are quite
important for design practices by the Load and Resistant
Factor Design.
The objectives of the present study are to develop a
straight box beam finite element and to propose tentative
design charts, using the developed box beam element,
for adequate spacing of the intermediate diaphragms.
The developed beam element with nine degrees of free-
dom per node, which can take account of extension,
flexure, torsion, and distortion in the box girder system,
was thoroughly verified from a series of comparative
studies using conventional shell element models. In
order to consider the effect of the intermediate dia-
phragms on distortional responses, extensive parametric
studies were performed using the developed box beam
element. The design parameters were the desired ratio
of the distortional warping normal stress to the bending
normal stress, the number of spans, the span length, the
aspect ratio of the box section, and the spacing of the
intermediate diaphragms. From the results of these
analyses, tentative design charts indicating efficient
spacing of the intermediate diaphragms for the various
stress ratios are proposed.
2. Review of design guidelines for intermediate
diaphragms
2.1. AASHTO
Primarily based on the study by Oleinik and Heins
[4], the Guide Specifications for Horizontally Curved
Highway Bridges [1] by the AASHTO specify the
maximum spacing of the intermediate diaphragms (LD)
as
冉 冊
1/2
R
LDⱕL ⱕ25ft (1)
200L⫺7500
where L and R denote the span length (dimensions in
feet) and the radius of curvature (dimensions in feet),
respectively. This is basically to meet the requirement
that the distortional warping normal stress is limited
within 10% of the longitudinal bending normal stress
and the transverse bending normal stress should be lim-
ited to 20 ksi (137.3 MPa) or lower.
2.2. Hanshin Expressway Public Corporation of Japan
The Hanshin Expressway Public Corporation of Japan
provided the Guidelines for the Design of Horizontally
Curved Girder Bridges (Draft) [2]. In these guidelines,
design criteria for the spacing of the intermediate dia-
phragms, which was based on the research of Sakai and
Nagai [5], was determined so that the distortional warp-
ing normal stress is limited within 5% of the longitudinal
bending normal stress. In addition to the restriction on
the distortional warping normal stress, the transverse
bending normal stress due to distortion of the box sec-
tion should be limited to about 4.90 MPa or lower. To
comply with the restriction, the guidelines specify the
maximum spacing of the intermediate diaphragms for
straight box girders as
冦
6m (L ⬍ 60m)
LD ⫽ (0.14L⫺2.4)m (60mⱕLⱕ160m) (2)
20m (L ⬎ 160m)
where LD and L indicate the spacing of the intermediate
diaphragms (dimensions in meter) and the span length
(dimensions in meter), respectively.
 N.-H. Park et al. / Engineering Structures 25 (2003) 1665–1674
3. A thin-walled box beam finite element
3.1. Basic assumptions
The basic assumptions for the thin-walled box beam
finite element is developed herein as follows:
(a) The original shape is retained after deformation
except transverse bending;
(b) The displacements are small;
(c) The stress is proportional to the strain;
(d) The shear strains due to the change of bending and
warping normal stresses are negligibly small;
(e) The shear strains due to distortion are infinitesimal;
(f) The length of a beam is much larger than any other
dimension of the cross-section.
Assumptions (a) and (f) give the background of the
one-dimensional box beam behavior. In case of trans-
verse bending behavior due to distortion, it is indicated
that non-deformable beam theory is no longer valid.
Upon distortion, assumption (e) denotes that the shear
strains due to distortion in the box beam will not be con-
sidered.
3.2. Displacements and variational formulation
The displacements and the Cartesian coordinate sys-
tem of the present box beam at an arbitrary point A(x,y,z)
are shown in Fig. 1. Since the cross-section of the box
beam is symmetric with respect to the y-axis, the rep-
resentative points such as centroid, shear center and dis-
tortion center are located in the vertical centerline of the
cross-section, i.e. y-axis. From the geometric investi-
gation on the deformed shapes of the box section due to
flexure, torsion and distortion, the displacements of the
present beam in each direction are derived as following
Eq. (3). The displacement functions for flexure and tor-
Fig. 1. Cartesian coordinate system of a present box beam.
1667
sion derived in Eqs. (3a–c) are similar to the functions
of Usami and Koh [10] and Kang and Yoo [11]. Mean-
while, for distortion are similar to the functions of Nakai
and Yoo [12]. Transverse bending displacement function
in Eq. (3d) is derived based on the geometric investi-
gation illustrated in Fig. 2.
u ⫽ u0⫺(y⫺ys)b ⫹ (y ⫹ yd)q (3a)
v ⫽ v0 ⫹ xb⫺xq (3b)
w ⫽ w0⫺xu⬘0⫺yv⬘0⫺wsb⬘⫺wdq⬘ (3c)
v n d ⫽ v nq
冉 冊 冉 冊
1 3 2 2 1 1 (3d)
vn ⫽ s ⫺ s ⫹ s ⌫B ⫹ 2s3⫺ s2 ⌫A
L2f Lf Lf Lf
where u, v, w, vnd, vn, Lf, s, ⌫B and ⌫A denote the dis-
placements with respect to the x-, y- and z-axes, the
transverse bending displacements of each frame member
due to the total distortion and the unit distortion, the
length of frames, an independent variable related to the
frame length, and factors to satisfy equilibrium and com-
patibility at each junction of the box section, respect-
ively. Also, u0, v0, w0, ys, yd, b, q, ws, wd and ⬘ are the
displacements with respect to the x- and y-axes of shear
center, a longitudinal displacement with respect to cen-
troid, a perpendicular distance from centroid to shear
center, a perpendicular distance from centroid to distor-
tion center, a torsional angle, a distortional angle, the
warping function for torsion, the warping function for
distortion and the first-order differentiation with respect
to the z-axis, respectively. The symbols shown in Fig.
2, i.e. MA, MB, MAB, and MBA denote the internal end
moments at each junction, respectively.
The total potential energy is defined as the sum of the
strain energy stored in the member due to the defor-
mation and the loss of potential energy due to the applied
loads. In this study, the first variation of the strain energy
stored in the box beam may be divided into the three
parts of the axial, shear and transverse bending normal
strains, and is expressed as follows:
dŪ ⫽ dŪaxial ⫹ dŪshear ⫹ dŪtrans ⫽
冕
⫺ [F⬘z dw0⫺M⬙ydu0 ⫹ M⬙xdv0 ⫹ B⬙tdb
L
⫹ B⬙ddq ⫹ T⬘SVdb⫺Kdqdq]dz ⫹ [Fz dw0 (4)
⫺M⬘ydu0 ⫹ M⬘xdv0 ⫹ B⬘tdb ⫹ B⬘ddq ⫹ Mydu⬘0
⫺Mxdv⬘0⫺Btdb⬘⫺Bddq⬘ ⫹ TSVdb]L0
where dŪ, dŪaxial, dŪshear and dŪtrans define the first vari-
ation of the total strain energy, the first variation of the
strain energy associated with the axial, shear and trans-
verse bending normal strains, respectively. The symbols
Fz, Mx, My, Bt, Bd, TSV and Kd denote the normal and
shear stresses, the axial force in the longitudinal direc-
1668 N.-H. Park et al. / Engineering Structures 25 (2003) 1665–1674

Fig. 2. Deformed shape of a box section and each frame member. (a) Deformed shape of a box section; (b) a frame with angular displacement
at both ends; (c) a frame with angular displacement at B and A fixed; (d) a frame with angular displacement at A and B fixed.

tion, the bending moments with respect to the x- and y-
axes, the bimoments for torsion and distortion, the pure
torsional moment and the transverse bending stiffness
for distortion, respectively. Also, the first variation of
the loss of potential energy in the box beam is defined
as follows:
the fourth-order differentiation, respectively. Since the
analysis results on each behavior of the present beam is
expressed with respect to the representative points, such
as centroid, shear center and distortion center, no coup-
ling problem between each behavior of the beam may
occur. The distortional warping constant and the trans-

冕 冕
verse bending stiffness for distortion are expressed as

冕
dV̄ ⫽ ⫺ qi duidz ⫽ ⫺ [(qx⫺m⬘y)du0 ⫹ (qy
L L
Idw ⫽ w2d dA (7a)
⫹ m⬘x)dv0 ⫹ qzdw0 ⫹ (mT ⫹ m⬘w ⫹ ysqx (5) A

1
冉 冊
⫺ysm⬘y)db ⫹ mT dq] dz ⫺ [mydu0⫺mxdv0
2
Kd ⫽ 冕冉 冊 冕 冉 冊
s
M2t s
EI
ds ⫽
b

0
M2t s
EI
ds (7b)

⫹ myysdb⫺mwdb]L0
where dV̄, q, mT, mw, mx and my are the first variation
⫽ 冖冉 冊 M2t s
EI
ds

of the loss of potential energy, a uniformly distributed where Mts and I are the transverse bending moment and
force, a uniformly distributed torsional moment, a uni- the moment of inertia of each frame, respectively.
formly distributed warping moment, and the uniformly
distributed moments with respect to the x- and y-axes, 3.4. Nodal displacement and force vectors
respectively.
Nodal displacement and force components of the
3.3. Governing differential equations
present box beam are shown in Fig. 3. The components
per node and element are nine and 18 kinematic degrees
The governing differential equations of each behavior
of freedom, respectively. The nodal displacement and
of the present box beam are derived as follows:
force vectors are as follows:
⫺EAw⬙0 ⫽ qz (6a)
{d} ⫽ 具w0i u0i v0i u⬘0i ⫺v⬘0i bi ⫺b⬘i qi ⫺q⬘i
EI v ⫽ qy ⫹ m⬘x, EI u ⫽ qx⫺m⬘y
IV
x 0
IV
y 0 (6b) w0j u0j v0j u⬘0j ⫺v⬘0j bj ⫺b⬘j qj ⫺q⬘j 典T (8a)
EIwb ⫺GKTb⬙ ⫽ mT ⫹ m⬘w ⫹ ysqx⫺ysm⬘y
IV
(6c) ⫽ dk (k ⫽ 1,2,%,18)
1 {f} ⫽ 具Fzi Vxi Vyi Myi Mxi Tti Bti Tdi Bdi
EIdwqIV ⫹ Kdq ⫽ mT (6d)
2
Fzj Vxj Vyj Myj Mxj Ttj Btj Tdj Bdj典T (8b)
which denote the equations relative to the axial, flexural, ⫽ fk (k ⫽ 1,2,%,18)
torsional and distortional behaviors, respectively. Wher-
ein the symbols A, Ix, Iy, Iw, Idw, E, G, KT and IV are the where { } and ⬍ ⬎ indicate column and row vector,
area of a box section, the moment of inertias with respect respectively; the superscripts T and ⬘ denote the trans-
to the x- and y-axes, the torsional warping constant, the pose and the first derivation; the subscripts i and j are
distortional warping constant, the modulus of elasticity, starting and ending nodes of the element; F, V, M, Tt,
the modulus of rigidity, the pure torsional constant and Bt, Td and Bd are the axial force, the shear force, the
 N.-H. Park et al. / Engineering Structures 25 (2003) 1665–1674 1669

Fig. 3. Nodal displacement and forces of a present box beam.

bending moment, the total torsional moment, the tor- dinate; z indicates the longitudinal coordinate of the box
sional bimoment, the total distortional moment and the beam element.
distortional bimoment, respectively. The total torsional The element stiffness matrix of the present box beam
and the total distortional moments, the torsional warping is formulated in the following tensor notation form:

冕
and the distortional warping moments (Ttw and Tdw), and
the shear forces are defined as follows: Kij ⫽ EA (N⬘1iN⬘1j) dz (i,j ⫽ 1,10)
Tt ⫽ TSV ⫹ Tt w, Td ⫽ Td w (9a) L

Tt w ⫽ B⬘t, Td w ⫽ B⬘d
Vx ⫽ ⫺M⬘y, Vy ⫽ M⬘x
(9b) 冕
⫹ EIy (N⬙2iN⬙2j) dz
L
(i,j ⫽ 2,4,11,13)

冕
(9c)
⫹ EIx (N⬙3iN⬙3j) dz (i,j ⫽ 3,5,12,14)
3.5. Displacement fields and element stiffness matrix L

冕 冕
(11)
Displacement fields of the present box beam are calcu- ⫹ EIw (N⬙4iN⬙4j) dz ⫹ GKT (N⬘4iN⬘4j) dz
lated by solving homogenous solutions of governing dif- L L
ferential equations associated with the four behaviors of (i,j ⫽ 6,7,15,16)

冕 冕
extension, flexure, torsion and distortion. These fields are
as follows:
⫹ EIdw (N⬙5iN⬙5j) dz ⫹ Kd (N5iN5j) dz
w0 ⫽ A1z ⫹ A2 (10a) L L

(i,j ⫽ 8,9,17,18)
u0 ⫽ A3z3 ⫹ A4z2 ⫹ A5z ⫹ A6 (10b)
v0 ⫽ A7z3 ⫹ A8z2 ⫹ A9z ⫹ A10 (10c) which demonstrates the stiffness matrixes on axial,
flexural, torsional and distortional behaviors, respect-
b ⫽ A11 ⫹ A12a z ⫹ A13sinha z ⫹ A14cosha z (10d) ively. The symbol N is the shape functions of each
q ⫽ A15cosh a2zcos a2z ⫹ A16cosh a2zsin a2z (10e) behavior. Also, the load vector relative to these four
behaviors of the present box beam is expressed as fol-
⫹ A17sinh a2zcos a2z ⫹ A18sinh a2zsin a2z lows:
in which,
l ⫽ 冕 [qzN1i ⫹ qxN2i ⫹ qyN3i⫺mxN⬘3i ⫹ myN⬘2i (12)
冪 冪
GKT Kd L
a⫽ ,a ⫽
册
4
EIw 2 4EIdw 1
⫹ mTN4i⫺mwN⬘4i ⫹ mTN5i dz (i ⫽ 1,2,%,18)
where the symbols A1 to A18 denote the generalized coor- 2
1670 N.-H. Park et al. / Engineering Structures 25 (2003) 1665–1674
4. Numerical validation
To establish validity of the present box beam element,
two box girder bridge models were selected. The first
model is a box girder bridge without any intermediate
diaphragm except bearing diaphragms at supports and
the second model is a box girder bridge with four inter-
mediate diaphragms of 8 m spacing. The type of the
intermediate diaphragms is of a solid-plate diaphragm.
Geometric and loading descriptions for the two models
are shown in Fig. 4. These models are subjected to two
load cases of a concentrated load of 981 kN (CL) and
a distributed load of 19.61 kN/m (DL). The modulus of
elasticity and the Poisson’s ratio are assumed as 205 947
MPa and 0.3, respectively. These models have the bear-
ing diaphragms of thickness of 2.0 cm at both supports.
The boundary conditions of the bearing diaphragms are
divided into three cases: one is a simple support con-
dition with respect to flexure; another is a fixed support
condition with respect to torsion and distortion; and the
last is a free support condition with respect to torsional
and distortional warping. Meanwhile, the boundary con-
ditions of the intermediate diaphragms are divided into
two cases: one is a fixed support condition with respect
to torsion and distortion; and the other is a free support
condition with respect to torsional and distortional warp-
ing. The beam and shell elements of the first model are
employed 40 and 1648 elements, respectively, and those
of the second model are employed 40 and 1744
elements, respectively. The conventional program for
shell analyses is LUSAS [13] and this shell element has
eight nodes.
Fig. 4. Geometric and loading descriptions for two bridge models.
(a) Elevation; (b) cross section A-A (dimensions in mm).
As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the two analyses show
an excellent correlation with each other, which strongly
supports the validity of the developed box beam element.
It is evident from Figs. 5 and 6 that by installation of the
four intermediate diaphragms, the distortional warping
normal stress is significantly reduced from 201.11 to
39.24 MPa under the same concentrated load. Further-
more, the transverse bending normal stress is further
reduced from 235.44 to only 1.77 MPa.
5. Parametric study
An extensive parametric study was performed herein
in order to examine the effect of the intermediate dia-
phragms of the solid-plate type on the distortional
behavior of the steel box girders. A steel box girder
model used for the parametric study is shown in Fig. 7
and regarded as one with a non-composite doubly sym-
metric cross-section. The live loads were applied in this
parametric study based on the Standard Specifications
for Highway Bridges of the Korean Ministry of Con-
struction and Transportation [14]. The applied loads are
comprised of a distributed live load of 124.55 N/cm, a
concentrated live load of 105.92 kN, and the self-weight
of the concrete deck. The live loads are 33% larger than
those of the HS20-44 lane loading specified by the
AASHTO, which comprised of a distributed live load of
640 lb/ft (93.32 N/cm) and a concentrated live load of
18 000 lb (80 kN). The modulus of elasticity and the
Poisson’s ratio for the model are assumed as 205 947
MPa and 0.3, respectively. End supports and the inter-
mediate diaphragms are subjected to fixed boundary con-
dition for torsion and distortion, and to free boundary
condition for torsional and distortional warping. In order
to induce maximum distortional warping normal stress,
the live loads were applied to the box girders with the
maximum eccentricity allowed in the standard specifi-
cations.
The ranges of the parameters considered in this study
are summarized in Table 1. The span length, the number
of spans, the shape of the box section, and the spacing
of the intermediate diaphragms were major parameters
influencing the distortional behavior of the box girders.
In this parametric study, the lane loading divided into
separately in order to consider the independent effect on
the lane loading with eccentricities comprised of a con-
centric load and a distributed load. The concentric load
with an eccentricity divided into two components of a
concentric load and a concentric torsional moment. Simi-
larly, the distributed load with an eccentricity divided
into a distributed load and a distributed torsional
moment. These two torsional moments produce the
bimoments in box girders.
From a number of distortional analyses, it was evident
that the distortional bimoment mainly depends on the
 N.-H. Park et al. / Engineering Structures 25 (2003) 1665–1674 1671

spacing of the intermediate diaphragms as well as the

torsional moments. The maximum bimoments developed
in the box girders due to the eccentric live load specified
in the Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges of
Korea can be expressed in simpler forms as shown in
Eq. (13), which were obtained from an extensive
regression study based on the results due to the para-
metric analyses using the present box beam.
BdD ⫽ 0.02204mTL2D (13a)
BdC ⫽ 0.08683MTLD (13b)
where the symbols BdD, BdC, mT and MT denote the
maximum distortional bimoments (dimensions in N-
cm2) due to the distributed live load and the concentrated
live load, and the distributed torsional moment
(dimensions in N-cm/cm) and the concentrated torsional
moment (dimensions in N-cm), respectively. Since the
distortional bimoment is evaluated for concentrated load
and distributed load separately herein, the total bimo-
ment, BdT is merely the sum of both bimoments. It
should be noted that if the loads by the AASHTO were
taken into account, Eq. (13) would be the same. From
the bending moment and the distortional bimoment, the
corresponding bending and distortional warping normal
stresses are expressed as
M BdT
sb ⫽ y, sdw ⫽ w (14)
I Idw d
Therefore, the normal stress ratio, sdw/sb or z, can be
written by
sdw BdT
⫽ S⫽z (15)
sb M
in which,
BdT ⫽ BdD ⫹ BdC, M ⫽ Mb ⫹ MD ⫹ MC,
24 I
S⫽
BH (Af ⫹ Aw)
2

where the symbols I, Af, and Aw are the moment of iner-

tia of the box section, the area of a flange, and the area
of a web, respectively, and the subscripts b, D, and C
relate to the body force, the distributed load, and the
concentrated load, respectively. The bending moments
from the elementary mechanics are expressed as
Mb ⫽ 0.125bL2, MD ⫽ 0.125wDL2,
(16a)
MC ⫽ 0.250PL: Single ⫺ span
Mb ⫽ 0.070bL2, MD ⫽ 0.094wDL2,
(16b)
MC ⫽ 0.204PL: Two ⫺ span continuous
Mb ⫽ 0.079bL2, MD ⫽ 0.099wDL2,
Fig. 5. Distortional stresses for the first model. (a) Distortional warp- (16c)
ing normal stress (CL); (b) transverse bending normal stress (CL); (c) MC ⫽ 0.210PL: Three ⫺ span continuous
distortional warping normal stress (DL); (d) transverse bending normal
stress (DL). where b, wD and P denote the body force, the distributed
load and the concentrated load, respectively.
1672 N.-H. Park et al. / Engineering Structures 25 (2003) 1665–1674

Fig. 6. Distortional stresses for the second model. (a) Distortional warping normal stress (CL); (b) transverse bending normal stress (CL); (c)
distortional warping normal stress (DL); (d) transverse bending normal stress (DL).

Fig. 7. Geometric and loading descriptions for box girder models. (a) Cross-section of box girders (dimensions in cm); (b) various load cases.

Table 1
Summary of parameters

Number of spans Span length (L) Width (B) and height (H) Spacing of intermediate diaphragms (LD)

Single-span
2-span continuous 30–100 m 2–4 m 3–12 m
3-span continuous

Applying the appropriate limitation of the stress ratio,
z, into Eq. (15), the relations between the span lengths
and the spacing of the intermediate diaphragms can be
obtained, and its relations are illustrated in Fig. 8. From
Fig. 8, it can be shown that not only the spacing of the
intermediate diaphragms but also the number of spans
and the shape of the cross-section play an important role
in controlling the distortional warping normal stress. Fig.
8 may be effectively used to determine the effective
spacing of the intermediate diaphragms for an allowed
stress ratio, sdw/sb. For example, for a single-span box
girder bridge with the span length of 50 m, the width of
3 m and the height of 3 m, and the flange thickness of 2.0
cm and the web thickness of 1.2 cm of the box section,
respectively, S is calculated as 0.03/cm. If the allowed
stress ratio is assumed as 0.06, z/S is 2 cm and hence
the spacing of the intermediate diaphragm is about 9 m,
with reference to Fig. 8a.
 N.-H. Park et al. / Engineering Structures 25 (2003) 1665–1674
Fig. 8. Relations between span lengths and spacing of intermediate
diaphragms. (a) Single-span; (b) two-span continuous; (c) three-span
continuous.
6. Concluding remarks
A thin-walled box beam element for the analysis of
straight box girder bridges with a symmetric cross-sec-
tion was developed in this study. This box beam element
has nine degrees of freedom per node, which demon-
strates the effect of four behaviors of extension, flexure,
torsion and distortion. Since the shape functions corre-
sponding to the four behaviors were derived from a hom-
ogenous solution of each governing differential equation,
the present box beam element has shown good conver-
gence. From a series of comparative studies using a shell
element, accuracy was shown to be excellent.
The present box beam element, unlike a shell element,
is capable of yielding internal forces such as the bending
moment, the torsional moment, the warping bimoment,
1673
and the distortional bimoment, etc., which is extremely
useful for understanding the structural behavior and is
necessary for design practices by the Load and Resist-
ance Factor Design. Considering the vast amount of
input and output tasks for the shell element analysis, the
importance of the presented beam element would not
need any further comment.
In order to investigate the effect of the intermediate
diaphragms of the solid-plate type on the distortional
behavior of steel box girders, an extensive parametric
study was performed herein. The computation of the dis-
tortional bimoments was further facilitated through an
extensive regression study using the results of the
numerous parametric studies. It was shown that the dia-
phragm is extremely effective in controlling the distor-
tional bimoment. The correlation between the spacing of
the intermediate diaphragms and the ratio of the distor-
tional warping normal stress to the bending normal stress
was extensively analyzed and the results were summar-
ized in the proposed tentative design charts. The design
charts will be useful for a practising engineer to effec-
tively determine the adequate spacing of the intermediate
diaphragms for a given specified stress ratio. Noting that
most current design specifications use a single stress
ratio, the possibility of using various stress ratios is pion-
eered in the present study.
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