Investigation on the influence of rotation speed on internal stresses in PC bridge built using rotation method

This paper investigates the impact of rotation speed on the internal stresses of prestressed concrete (PC) girder bridges constructed using swivel method. A numerical model is established to analyze the bridge’s structural response under varying rotary speeds. The results reveal a positive correlation between the escalation of angular velocity and the magnification of concrete stresses, which are most pronounced at the top slab of the PC box girder near the pier. The stress of the PC girder at the selected cross-sections increases by 527% when the angular velocity goes from 0.02 rad/min to 0.05 rad/min. During the rotation acceleration phase, heightened stress concentrations are observed in the main girder and the underlying pier. Comparatively small stresses are achieved across the bridge under an angular velocity of 0.02 rad/min and rotational acceleration of 2.00 × 10−3 rad/min2. The analytical framework employed in this study, which integrates stress monitoring data from the PC girder with advanced numerical simulations, confirms that the concrete stresses encountered during the rotation construction process remain within acceptable limits. The successful use of the rotation construction technique demonstrates its feasibility and effectiveness as a construction method for large-span asymmetric bridges overpass multi-line railways.