Buckling analysis of steel arch bridges

Abstract Steel arch bridges are analyzed. The shape and the height of the arch are variable and the arch's supports are either pinned or fixed. A uniformly distributed load and a moving concentrated load are considered. The location and the magnitude of the minimum elastic critical loads are computed for various values of height to span ratios and load combinations. The influence of arch rib height on the critical loads is studied and the interaction curves between critical concentrated and critical uniform loads are given. Finally the accurate optimum arch heights for all cases are obtained. The results are presented in graphical and tabular form.