Equivalent uniform live loads under transit vehicles for floor slab of long-span urban transportation hubs

Abstract

Rapid development of long-span urban transportation hubs arouses higher requirements of structural design methods. However, the current design codes do not give effective provisions of the equivalent uniform live load for long-span transportation hubs. A revised equivalent uniform live load is developed by considering the aspect (length-to-width) ratio of the one-way slab system for the urban transportation hubs. The most unfavorable loading positions of the bus tires are determined, and the equivalent uniform live load is computed by using the Chinese Load Code. The structural response under equivalent uniform live load is further compared to that under actual load, then the original equation of the equivalent uniform live load with the Chinese Load Code is revised by considering the aspect ratio of one-way slab. An actual engineering computation of equivalent uniform live load is carried out. The results reveal that the calculation methods of the Chinese Load Code cannot reflect the force transmission characteristics of the small-area tire load on the one-way slab. The structural responses under the revised equivalent uniform load are in good agreement with that under the actual load. The revised calculation method is suitable for most areas in this urban transportation hub and similar structures.