Compressive-bending behavior of corrugated steel-concrete composite arches: Testing, modelling and design

The corrugated steel-concrete composite (CSCC) arch exhibits high stiffness, excellent ductility, and superior ultimate resistance, making it a promising solution for bridge and tunnel engineering applications. Arch structures in engineering applications are primarily subjected to compression-bending loading. However, research on the compression-bending behavior of CSCC arches remains limited. Furthermore, the lack of a design method for the compression-bending capacity of CSCC arches further hinders their engineering applications. To investigate the behavior of CSCC arches under compression-bending loading, experimental investigations were conducted on two 6 m span CSCC arches subjected to varying loading conditions (mid-span load and quarter-span load), and the failure modes, ultimate resistance, and composite actions were analyzed. The results indicate that under mid-span loading and quarter-span loading, the concrete was crushed due to excessive symmetric and antisymmetric deformations, respectively. Compared with the quarter-span loading condition, the arch subjected to mid-span loading exhibited a higher ultimate resistance but reduced stiffness. A finite element (FE) model of the CSCC arch was established and verified, and then applied to investigate the effects of material strength, section geometry, and corrugation size on its behavior under compression-bending loading. Finally, a design method was proposed to predict the compression-bending capacity of the CSCC arch.