Structure
The foundation plate, made of reinforced concrete, absorbs the loads from 16 columns of the steel structure, which is supported by 41 bored piles. During the calculation, several different load types (live loads, snow loads, wind loads, and seismic loads) were applied to the foundation plate.
In the pit area, the filling loads were applied to the foundation plate. In the traffic area with rail vehicles, moving loads were generated using the RF‑MOVE Surfaces add-on module. A total of 40 load cases was selected for the design of the foundation plate. After the automatic generation of load combinations, the filter settings were applied to keep only the most relevant combinations.
Foundation Plate and Modeling
The foundation plate, with a length of about 102 ft and a width of about 36 ft, was modeled as a surface element. The foundation bases under the steel columns are restrained in the foundation plate.
The loads of the steel structure were assigned as nodal loads to the base heads. In RFEM, the elastic supports represent the bored piles. The RFEM feature "Elastic Support via Column in Z" allowed for the adjustment of the FE mesh at the pile heads.
To generate the moving loads due to rail vehicles, it was necessary to define the position of the axes, the loading, and the direction of the rail vehicles in RF‑MOVE Surfaces. Based on the data entered, the add-on module generated several load cases automatically.
| Structural Analysis | Études Techniques Lyonnaises, France |
