Traffic-Load Fragility Assessment of Prestressed Concrete Hollow Slab Bridges Considering Load Characteristics

Assessing the vulnerability of bridges to traffic loads is critical for ensuring their long-term operational safety. The reliability of bridges under design vehicle loads or simulated random traffic flows constitutes the primary focus of existing research. Current research often lacks analysis that incorporates actual traffic load conditions. This paper proposes a traffic-load fragility assessment method for prestressed concrete hollow slab bridges considering load characteristics. The methodology integrates Metropolis-Hasting sampling algorithm with Copula functions to simulate random traffic flow, calculates resistance levels corresponding to structural cracking, yield, and failure states, and employs Monte Carlo sampling for failure probability calculation. Finally, a case study of four prestressed concrete hollow slab bridges is conducted to analyze their traffic load fragility. The results show that, under the same traffic load characteristics, different bridges have varying vulnerabilities corresponding to different failure states. The traffic-load fragility assessment approach put forward in this study can offer important technical support for both bridge design work and the development of vehicle load restriction policies.