Vehicle Load Optimization in Structural Bridge Design

This class examines the difference between the traditional methods used to create traffic load combinations on bridge structures and the load optimization methods used in Structural Bridge Design software. We will examine the techniques that the program uses to create worst-case loading patterns according to the specification of a variety of bridge design codes. A number of different user-defined parameters are used to control the behavior of the module and we will examine these in detail. We will also discuss the benefits and timesaving garnered from using the resulting workflow. Additionally, we will use a demonstration to show how the optimization method fits into the general workflow of the design process.