Hindawi Publishing Corporation

e Scientific World Journal

Volume 2014, Article ID 397515, 7 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/397515

Research Article
Relative Displacement Method for Track-Structure Interaction

Frank Schanack,1 Óscar Ramón Ramos,2 Juan Patricio Reyes,1 and Marcos J. Pantaleón3
1
Institute of Civil Engineering, Universidad Austral de Chile, General Lagos, 5111187 Valdivia, Chile
2
Department of Structural and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cantabria, Avenida Los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain
3
APIA XXI S.A., PCTCAN, Avenida Albert Einstein 6, 39011 Santander, Spain

Correspondence should be addressed to Frank Schanack; [email protected]

Received 5 August 2013; Accepted 27 November 2013; Published 22 January 2014

Academic Editors: Z. Guan and H.-H. Tsang

Copyright © 2014 Frank Schanack et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The track-structure interaction effects are usually analysed with conventional FEM programs, where it is difficult to implement the
complex track-structure connection behaviour, which is nonlinear, elastic-plastic and depends on the vertical load. The authors
developed an alternative analysis method, which they call the relative displacement method. It is based on the calculation of
deformation states in single DOF element models that satisfy the boundary conditions. For its solution, an iterative optimisation
algorithm is used. This method can be implemented in any programming language or analysis software. A comparison with
ABAQUS calculations shows a very good result correlation and compliance with the standard’s specifications.

1. Introduction structure. For its solution, an iterative optimisation algorithm

should be used instead of the solution of the system of
Since the 1980s, the track-structure interaction in railway equations by means of a stiffness matrix. This method can
bridges has been the subject of research, especially since the be implemented in any programming language or analysis
beginning of the high speed railway traffic in Europe [1–4]. software, such as FORTRAN, MATLAB, MathCAD, or even
These studies refer to the stresses and deformations in the EXCEL. Furthermore, any mechanical behaviour of the
rail-deck system, which may reach unsafe values and can
connector element can be incorporated easily. The authors
affect the serviceability of the track. The rail stress may even
call it the relative displacement method.
be high enough to cause its rupture [5]. Generally, such effects
occur in continuously welded rails, which are currently being In this work, the concept of the new formulation is
used in high speed railway tracks because of their superior derived, and the results of a comparison with the conven-
maintainability and passenger comfort [6]. tional method for the loads creep, shrinkage, and temperature
Usually, the combined response of track and structure variation are presented.
is analysed by standard finite element analysis software [5,
7–10]. The major challenge of this type of analysis is the
implementation of the connector element between rail and 2. The Track-Structure
bridge deck, which has a nonlinear mechanical behaviour and Interaction Phenomenon
is elastic-plastic with irreversible deformations and moreover
depends on the value of the vertical load. Much of the 2.1. Structural Behaviour. The track-structure interaction or
commercial finite element software is not prepared for these the combined response of the structure and track describes
tasks, especially the last one. the effects of the structural collaboration of the rails and the
The authors propose a different method for the analysis of deck in bridges by means of their connection elements. In
the effects of the track-structure interaction. It is based on the the beginning, the analysis of the rails and bridge deck was
calculation of deformation states in single DOF finite element conducted separately. However, this type of analysis is not
models that satisfy the boundary conditions of the track and appropriate when the rails are continuously welded on top
2 The Scientific World Journal

Nonlinear Expansion
connectors joint

Track

Deck

Figure 1: Usual analysis model of the track-structure interaction.

not recovered. The elastic limit is different for frozen and

Loaded track unfrozen ballasts.
Analogously to frictional behaviour, the plastic shear
k3 resistance of the ballast is higher when an additional vertical
load is applied, which is the case when the live load is applied
to the track (Figure 2). Hence, the analysis must take into
Frozen ballast account, for example, that the connector elements that are
in the sliding state before applying the live load will return
Shear resistance k

to elastic behaviour, while their relative displacement and

their connector force remain unchanged. The implementa-
k2 tion of such a connector in the analysis of the interaction
Unloaded track phenomenon with the finite element method causes certain
complications, such as the activation and deactivation of
k1 elements in function of the presence of load, and cannot be
realised in many engineering FEM programs.

2.2. Actions on the Track-Structure System. It is necessary

to take into account all actions that may cause longitudinal
u0 forces or displacements both in the track and the structure.
These actions may be of very different nature, as, for example,
Relative displacement u
creep and shrinkage, temperature variation, stress from
Figure 2: Load-displacement behaviour of ballasted tracks [12]. vertical loads, or traction and braking forces. Any of these
actions can cause a force transfer between the rail and deck
via the rail fasteners and the ballast [12].
The present work focuses on the actions that cause the
of the structure because then the track-structure interaction greatest relative displacements between the track and the
shows nonnegligible effects [6, 11]. structure, that is, creep and shrinkage and the variation of the
The track-structure interaction analysis is based on the temperature of the deck and rails. Nevertheless, the proposed
model shown in Figure 1. The track and the deck are modelled method can be used to calculate the effects of any of the
by beam elements in their respective centres of gravity. Both actions mentioned above.
parts are connected by the ballast, which transfers forces
between them. It is modelled by longitudinal connectors with 2.2.1. Creep and Shrinkage. In concrete bridges, part of the
certain nonlinear mechanical behaviour. Usually, this analysis creep and shrinkage phenomenon occurs after the installa-
is conducted with conventional finite element software. tion of the track. This part has to be taken into account for
In the case of ballasted tracks, the structural collaboration the track-structure interaction analysis. It produces a deck
of rail and structure is not rigid. It is generally accepted shortening such that every point of the deck moves towards
that the load-displacement behaviour of the ballast can be the fixed bearing of the bridge, which usually is located at
idealised by the bilinear law shown in Figure 2, similar to one abutment. Consequently, the creep and shrinkage strains
frictional behaviour [9–14]. have a defined direction.
The longitudinal shear resistance of the ballast, 𝑘, is The result is a permanent stress state of the rail-structure
proportional to the displacement of the rail relative to the connection, which will certainly disappear in time due to the
top of the supporting deck, 𝑢, until a relative displacement dynamic actions of the passing trains. To take into account
of 𝑢0 is reached, which corresponds to an elastic limit. At the most unfavourable condition, it is prudent to analyse the
this point, the ballast cannot resist any further load, and two possibilities, the presence and the absence of the imposed
a sliding phenomenon occurs, while the resistance force is stress state due to creep and shrinkage.
constant (plastic shear resistance). When the direction of
the displacement changes, the ballast behaviour becomes 2.2.2. Variation of the Rail and the Deck Temperature. In
elastic again, but the relative displacement from sliding is general, the value of the constant temperature variation
The Scientific World Journal 3

depends on the bridge type and the climatic zone of its Flong,i Flong,i+1
placement. For the deck temperature variation, the overall i i+1
range of the uniform temperature component according to
Nrail,i−1 𝜀Δt Nrail,i+1
the Eurocode [15] is considered. In the National Annexes,
k k
alternative values may be specified. For example, in the
Spanish railway bridge design code IAPF-07, the maximum ui ui+1
deck temperature variation is ±35 K, while the maximum rail Ndeck,i−1 Ndeck,i+1
temperature variation is ±50 K. The maximum temperature
difference between both elements is ±20 K [13]. i 𝜀Δt , 𝜀R+F i+1

Fpier,i Fpier,i+1
2.3. Required Verifications. The combined response of track L
and structure can have unfavourable effects on the bridge
structure that have to be considered for its dimensioning. Figure 3: Illustration of the alternative calculation model.
Additionally, there are unfavourable effects on the track-
ballast system that can affect the security and the func-
tionality of the bridge. According to Eurocode 1, the main
verifications to be conducted are the following [12]. Under given longitudinal loads from traction, braking, or
seismic actions and imposed longitudinal strains from creep
(i) The additional rail stresses due to the combined and shrinkage or temperature actions, an infinite number of
response of the structure and track to variable actions deformation states of such a model can be found. However,
should be limited to 72 N/mm2 in compression and only one of these deformation states will satisfy the boundary
92 N/mm2 in tension. In continuously welded rails, conditions of the analysis problem. This special equilibrium
the stress increment is calculated with respect to the state can easily be determined by any iterative optimisation
rail stress in the rail at a sufficiently large distance
algorithm, without the need to solve a system of equations by
from the bridge. The given values correspond to the
means of a stiffness matrix. The authors first programmed this
commonly used UIC 60 rail with a tensile strength of
analysis method as an EXCEL worksheet and then utilised
at least 900 N/mm2 .
a FORTRAN program due to the higher precision and the
(ii) The absolute deck displacement at both ends of the faster mathematical operators.
bridge due to traction and braking shall not exceed The output of this method includes all displacements,
5 mm. If there are rail expansion joints at both ends of strains and forces of the track, the structure, and their con-
the bridge, this displacement shall not exceed 30 mm. nection.
(iii) Additionally, in some National Annexes, a limit of Figure 3 shows a schematic representation of the alterna-
4 mm is specified for the relative longitudinal dis- tive analysis model. There are two parallel elements, one for
placement of deck and rail due to traction and braking the track and one for the deck, with their respective elon-
[13, 14]. gation stiffness. The element length, 𝐿, is determined in the
same manner as in usual FEM bridge models. Good results
are obtained for a length of 1 m. The required mathematical
3. Alternative Analysis Method precision of this method is not altered by the element length.
3.1. Concept. During the analysis of 15 high speed railway The ballast is represented by a connector element that
bridges for Spanish AVE tracks, the authors recognised that can be defined with any mechanical behaviour, in this case,
the implementation of the mechanical connector behaviour, nonlinear and elastic-plastic, as a function of the vertical load.
as described before, is rather complicated, even in very The connector force on the left, acting between the nodes 𝑖 of
advanced FEM software, such as ABAQUS. In particular the the rail and of the deck, depends on their relative displace-
stiffness change due to vertical loading requires additional ment, which is given as a result of the previous analysis of the
programming effort. adjacent left-hand element. The relative displacement of the
To reduce the complexity of the problem, the authors nodes 𝑖 + 1 is then obtained from the determination of the
derived an alternative analysis method that is based on total element strain of the track and of the deck due to stress
finite elements with a single degree of freedom, that is, and imposed strain, as shown in
the displacement in longitudinal direction. Both the track
and the bridge deck are modelled with these elements. The
connection between the track and structure is taken into 𝑢𝑖+1 = 𝑢𝑖 + (𝜀rail,𝑖 − 𝜀deck,𝑖 ) ⋅ 𝐿,
account as forces applied to track and structure nodes. The
total 𝜎rail,𝑖
force value is obtained from the actual relative displacement 𝜀rail,𝑖 = + 𝜀rail,𝑖 ,
and the relative displacement history, according to Figure 2. 𝐸rail (1)
In the same way, any longitudinal load and the restoring
total 𝜎deck,𝑖
forces from piers and bearings are taken into account at the 𝜀deck,𝑖 = + 𝜀deck,𝑖 .
respective rail and deck nodes. 𝐸deck
4 The Scientific World Journal

Table 1: Parameters of Giles Viaduct, Spain.

𝜎̂rail,𝑛 = const
𝑢1 = const 24 m + 36 m + 5 × 48 m + 36 m +
Bridge length
24 m = 360 m
𝑁rail,0 = 0
󵄨 󵄨 Track number 2
While 󵄨󵄨󵄨𝜎rail,𝑛 − 𝜎̂rail,𝑛 󵄨󵄨󵄨 ≠ 0 do Deck cross-section 10.198 m2
For 𝑖 = 1 to 𝑛 do: Rail cross-section 4 × 7,678 mm2 = 30,712 mm2
𝑁rail,𝑖−1 − 𝐹long,𝑖 − 𝐹ballast (𝑢𝑖 ) Plastic shear resistance k 20 kN/m
𝜎rail,𝑖 =
𝐴 rail Relative displacement elastic
2 mm
𝑁deck,𝑖−1 − 𝐹pier,𝑖 + 𝐹ballast (𝑢𝑖 ) limit 𝑢0
𝜎deck,𝑖 = Creep and shrinkage strain −4.56𝐸 − 2‰
𝐴 deck
𝜎rail,𝑖 Rail temperature increment Δ𝑇 +20 K
󸀠
𝜀rail,𝑖 = + 𝜀rail,𝑖 Coefficient of thermal expansion
𝐸rail
𝜎deck,𝑖 󸀠 Deck 1.00𝐸 − 5 K−1
𝜀deck,𝑖 = + 𝜀deck,𝑖
𝐸deck Rail 1.20𝐸 − 5 K−1
𝑢𝑖+1 = 𝑢𝑖 + (𝜀rail,𝑖 − 𝜀deck,𝑖 ) ⋅ 𝐿
End For
󵄨 󵄨
change 𝑢1 to minimise 󵄨󵄨󵄨𝜎rail,𝑛 − 𝜎̂rail,𝑛 󵄨󵄨󵄨 must be determined by an iterative optimisation algorithm,
End While such that the boundary conditions of the bridge project are
fulfilled. The precision of the correct value must be very
high, especially in long viaducts (over 500 m), because small
Algorithm 1
deviations will sum up to a large error. Only one solution will
fulfil the boundary conditions.
The element stresses result from the track and deck axial Good boundary conditions are zero stress at rail or deck
forces, from the connection forces of the ballast, and from any expansion joints, zero deck displacement at fixed bearings, or
additional exterior longitudinal force, 𝐹long , as follows: any particular stress value on the embankment on a sufficient
distance from the bridge. In the optimisation algorithm, the
𝑁rail,𝑖 𝑁rail,𝑖−1 − 𝐹long,𝑖 − 𝐹ballast (𝑢𝑖 ) relative displacement of the first pair of nodes 𝑖 is varied until
𝜎rail,𝑖 = = . (2) all of the boundary conditions are fulfilled. Each iteration
𝐴 rail 𝐴 rail requires the calculation of the complete bridge length.
The deck stress also depends on the restoring forces of In Algorithm 1, the outline of the calculation algorithm
piers and bearings, 𝐹pier , which can be determined from their is shown for the example of a bridge with two rail expansion
stiffness by the longitudinal displacement of the correspond- joints.
ing node. Different stiffness for different vertical bearing
loads can be considered: 3.3. Definition of the Connector Behaviour. As described in
Section 2.1, the mechanical behaviour of the rail-deck con-
𝑁deck,𝑖 𝑁deck,𝑖−1 − 𝐹pier,𝑖 + 𝐹ballast (𝑢𝑖 ) nection is rather complex. The usual finite element programs
𝜎deck,𝑖 = = . (3)
𝐴 deck 𝐴 deck do not offer connector elements with such characteristics. It
must be composed of a combination of various elements and
The imposed strains are those resulting from temperature subroutines or it might even be impossible to model.
change, creep and shrinkage, or vertical deflection of the
The advantage of the proposed relative displacement
deck:
method is that the connector behaviour can be defined
𝜀rail,𝑖 = 𝛼𝑇,rail ⋅ Δ𝑇rail + 𝜀vert , directly as a mathematical function in the chosen program-
(4) ming language. This function can consider any parameters or
𝜀deck,𝑖 = 𝛼𝑇,deck ⋅ Δ𝑇deck + 𝜀vert + 𝜀𝐶+𝑆 . results of the analysis.
For example, for the analysis of creep and shrinkage and
Considering the relative displacement history from any pre- subsequent temperature variation, the six different connector
vious load and the actual value of the relative displacement, it behaviours shown in Figure 4 can be distinguished. At the
is possible to determine the actual connection force between end of the first step, the creep and shrinkage strain, two
these nodes. This force is taken as the basis for the analysis of different states of the connector are possible: elastic or
the next, right-hand, element. plastic behaviour. The subsequent temperature variation can
In that way, all connection forces and all node displace- produce a displacement in the same direction as the before
ments of the complete bridge length can be calculated succes- step, or it can be contrariwise. If it is in the same direction,
sively. The authors call this method the relative displacement the connector behaviour will be the same as previous, and if
method. it is contrariwise, it will be elastic but without recovering the
possible previous plastic deformation. Furthermore, the final
3.2. Solution Algorithm. The relative displacement of the state of the connector can be elastic or plastic. This load-
first pair of nodes 𝑖 may be arbitrary. Its correct value displacement behaviour can be described as follows:
The Scientific World Journal 5

𝑘 󵄨󵄨 󵄨
{
{𝑢𝐶+𝑆 ⋅ , 󵄨󵄨𝑢𝐶+𝑆 󵄨󵄨󵄨 < 𝑢0 ,
𝐹ballast,𝐶+𝑆 ={ 𝑢0
{ 󵄨󵄨 󵄨
{ sgn (𝑢𝐶+𝑆 ) ⋅ 𝑘, 󵄨󵄨𝑢𝐶+𝑆 󵄨󵄨󵄨 ≥ 𝑢0 ,
𝑘 󵄨 󵄨
{
{
{ {(𝑢𝐶+𝑆 + 𝑢Δ𝑇 ) ⋅ , 󵄨󵄨󵄨𝑢𝐶+𝑆 + 𝑢Δ𝑇 󵄨󵄨󵄨 < 𝑢0 ,
{
{
{sgn (𝑢𝐶+𝑆 ) = sgn (𝑢Δ𝑇 ) 𝑢0
{
{ {
{ 󵄨󵄨 󵄨
{
{ sgn (𝑢𝐶+𝑆 ) ⋅ 𝑘, 󵄨󵄨𝑢𝐶+𝑆 + 𝑢Δ𝑇 󵄨󵄨󵄨 ≥ 𝑢0 ,
{
{ { (5)
{
{ 𝑘
{ 󵄨 󵄨
{
{ {
{
{ 󵄨 󵄨 {(𝑢𝐶+𝑆 + 𝑢Δ𝑇 ) ⋅ , 󵄨󵄨󵄨𝑢𝐶+𝑆 + 𝑢Δ𝑇 󵄨󵄨󵄨 < 𝑢0 ,
{
𝐹ballast,Δ𝑇 ={ {
{ 󵄨󵄨𝑢𝐶+𝑆 󵄨󵄨 < 𝑢0 , 𝑢0
{ {
{ 󵄨 󵄨 {
{ 󵄨󵄨 󵄨
{
{ {
{ sgn (𝑢Δ𝑇 ) ⋅ 𝑘, 󵄨󵄨𝑢𝐶+𝑆 + 𝑢Δ𝑇 󵄨󵄨󵄨 ≥ 𝑢0 ,
{
{ {
{
{sgn (𝑢𝐶+𝑆 ) ≠ sgn (𝑢Δ𝑇 ) {
{
{ {
{ { 𝑘 󵄨 󵄨
{
{ {
{ 󵄨󵄨 󵄨󵄨 {(sgn (𝑢𝐶+𝑆 ) ⋅ 𝑢0 + 𝑢Δ𝑇 ) ⋅ , 󵄨󵄨󵄨𝑢Δ𝑇 󵄨󵄨󵄨 < 2 ⋅ 𝑢0 ,
{
{ {
{ 󵄨𝑢 󵄨 ≥ 𝑢 , 𝑢
{ {󵄨 𝐶+𝑆 󵄨
{ {
0 0
{ { 󵄨󵄨 󵄨󵄨
{ { { sgn (𝑢 Δ𝑇 ) ⋅ 𝑘, 󵄨󵄨𝑢Δ𝑇 󵄨󵄨 ≥ 2 ⋅ 𝑢0 .

In this manner, it is possible to define any connector same. The minimum rail stress values, 135.33 N/mm2 from
behaviour, even for the more complex cases when loaded and ABAQUS and 135.66 N/mm2 from the proposed method, are
unloaded tracks have to be considered. identical in practical terms (0.3% deviation).
In this example and as experienced in 14 other railway
viaducts with lengths from 123 m to 2,525.5 m, the results
4. Application of the Proposed Method of the conventional FEM analysis and of the relative dis-
placement method are of equal quality. The CPU time was
To evaluate the validity of the proposed relative displacement instantaneous for both methods, while the model preparation
method of the track-structure interaction, in the following it time before analysis for an experienced user was about half
is applied to a real bridge example. The results are compared a day for the ABAQUS model and less than half an hour for
with those obtained from a conventional finite elements the relative displacement method. This comparison takes into
analysis performed in ABAQUS Standard software. Figure 5 account that a general model of the bridge is already available
shows the FEM bridge model that was used. The bridge in ABAQUS from the bridge design process.
selected for the comparison is the Giles Viaduct of the AVE
high speed railway track from Los Gallardos to Sorbas in 5. Summary and Conclusions
Spain. It has a prestressed concrete box girder with a total
length of 360 m divided into 8 spans. This bridge has one The track-structure interaction in railway bridges is com-
rail joint and one deck expansion joint at each abutment. monly calculated with finite element analysis software. In the
The thermal centre is located in the centre of the bridge. case of ballasted tracks, the connection between track and
The necessary analysis parameters are taken from the Spanish structure has a nonlinear, plastic, and irreversible mechanical
railway bridge design code [13]. Table 1 shows the most behaviour that depends moreover on the vertical load applied
important of them. to the viaduct. Most of the commercial software is not
The loads evaluated are, in the first step, the deck prepared for the implementation of such elements.
deformation due to creep and shrinkage at infinite time. In To find a less complex method, the problem was reduced
the second step, based on the equilibrium state of the first to single DOF finite elements, and an iterative optimisation
load case, the variation of the rail temperature is applied, in algorithm was proposed in place of the solution of the
this case a temperature increase of 20 K. equilibrium equation system by means of the stiffness matrix.
Figure 6 shows the results for the rail stress of the first This method can be programmed in any language or even
load case for both the ABAQUS and the relative displacement in spreadsheet applications. The definition of any mechanical
analysis. Both graphs are plotted in the same diagram but behaviour of the track-structure connector is easily possible.
cannot be distinguished because they are virtually the same. In the proposed method, an initial relative track-structure
The minimum rail stress value of −85.78 N/mm2 is identical displacement is assumed at one node, and subsequently, all
for both analysis methods. node forces and displacements of the deck and the track
The rail stress for the second load case, a rail temperature are calculated. Exterior forces acting on the track or on
increment of +20 K, is obtained by applying a subsequent the structure, such as traction and braking force or bearing
rail deformation to the analysis model equilibrium state after restoring force, can be taken into account. Furthermore,
creep and shrinkage. Figure 7 shows the resulting rail stress, all imposed deck or track deformations, such as creep,
both for the ABAQUS model and for the relative displace- shrinkage, or thermal expansion, are implemented.
ment method. As before, the corresponding graphs cannot be The correct value of the initial relative track-structure
distinguished in the diagram because they are virtually the displacement is determined by an iterative optimisation
6 The Scientific World Journal

k k

k1 k1
k

k1 −u0
u0 u
u0 u

−k1
u0 u −k1 2u0

(a) (b)

Figure 4: Rail-deck connection behaviour (a) for creep and shrinkage and (b) for subsequent temperature variation.

Bridge length (m)

50 100 150 200 250 300 350
0

Longitudinal rail stress (N/mm2 ) −20

−40
−60 Zoom
−80
−100
−120
−140
Figure 5: FEM bridge model used in ABAQUS.
−160

ABAQUS model (min = −135.33 N/mm2 )

Bridge length (m)
Proposed method (min = −135.66 N/mm2 )
50 100 150 200 250 300 350
0
Figure 7: Rail stress due to creep, shrinkage, and temperature
−10
Longitudinal rail stress (N/mm2 )

deformation.
−20
−30
−40 Zoom
−50 relative displacement method is very advantageous because
−60 the preparation time before analysis is less than half an hour,
−70 while it is half a day for the ABAQUS analysis model.
−80 The proposed method has certain limitation because the
−90 deformation of the whole bridge is calculated starting from
−100 one node. A very high precision of the deformation values is
necessary; otherwise, small deviations will sum up to a large
ABAQUS model (min = −85.78 N/mm2 ) error. The precision of EXCEL spreadsheets is sufficient for
Proposed method (min = −86.19 N/mm2 )
up to 500 m long viaducts; with FORTRAN a 2,525.5 m long
Figure 6: Rail stress due to creep and shrinkage deformation. bridge was calculated successfully.

algorithm. It is obtained when the calculated deformation Notations

state of the model fulfils all the boundary conditions of the 𝑛: Total number of nodes
viaduct, for example, zero stress at expansion joints. 𝑘: Plastic shear resistance of the track
The comparison of this proposed relative displacement 𝑢: Relative track-structure displacement
method with an ABAQUS analysis model shows that both 𝑢0 :
Elastic limit of the relative
results are of the same quality and that their rail stress values track-structure displacement
are virtually identical. In terms of time consumption, the 𝐴: Cross-section area
The Scientific World Journal 7

𝐸: Young’s modulus [15] European Committee for Standardization (CEN), EN1991-1-5,

𝐹: Longitudinal force Eurocode 1: Actions on structures, Part 1–5: General actions,
𝐿: Element length Thermal actions, Brussels, Belgium, 2003.
𝑁: Axial force
𝛼𝑇 : Coefficient of thermal expansion
𝑥: Strain
𝜎: Stress
𝜎̂: Boundary condition stress
Δ𝑇: Temperature variation.

Conflict of Interests
The authors of the paper do not have a direct financial relation
with the French corporation Dassault Systèmes, distributer
and developer of ABAQUS, that might lead to a conflicts of
interest for any of the authors.

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[8] A. Reguero, “Types of viaduct on the Madrid-Barcelona-French
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