Dynamic response of a bridge deck pavement

A three-dimensional finite-element vehicle–bridge–bridge deck pavement (BDP) coupling vibration model was built to investigate the coupled effect of bridge surface roughness and vehicle velocity on the dynamic response of BDPs under random vehicle loads. The results obtained show that, compared with the stress response of a fixed node at the midspan, the response of stress extremes of the BDP not only reflect the stochastic characters of vehicle loads but also directly reflect the most disadvantageous response of the structure. In addition, it was found that the amplification coefficients of different control stresses were very close for a certain international roughness index, the stress response of the BDP considering roughness was significantly greater than that of smooth surfacing and when vehicles are travelling on a bridge with a rough surface, speed should be controlled to be neither too fast nor too slow.