Location and Evaluation of Maximum Dynamic Effects on a Simply Supported Beam due to a Quarter-Car Model

Most current research on dynamic effects due to traffic load on simply supported bridges focuses on the mid-span section of the bridge, since this location corresponds to the worst static bending moment. However, the maximum total moment may be located relatively far apart from the mid-span location and differ considerably from the maximum mid-span moment. This paper uses a quarter-car vehicle model travelling over an Euler-Bernoulli beam to analyse this phenomena. The vehicle parameters are varied using Monte-Carlo simulations. The influence of road profile roughness and bridge length on the magnitude of the differences between mid-span and the worst possible section are also investigated.