Diseño y simulación de un puente peatonal de 20m de luz tipo armadura en estructura metálica

Abstract

Pedestrian bridges have become a solution over the years in people's daily lives; in recent years, they have been implemented in different locations according to the needs of the community. Truss-type bridges offer both safety and generate confidence in daily users, while also being aesthetic and becoming an attractive feature in the landscape. The truss design was based on the selection of square metal profiles, using the Demand/Capacity (D/C) criterion for selection. Theoretical results were verified using SAP 2000 software, yielding similar outcomes. For the main chord selection, the D/C calculation resulted in 0.56, indicating it operates at 56% of its capacity without considering the self-weight of the profile. Meanwhile, the software showed a capacity of 0.56, a more precise result, demonstrating that self-weight does not significantly influence this section. Similarly, the vertical and diagonal profiles operate at capacities of 0.33 and 0.40 without considering their self-weights. Consequently, the software shows results of 0.45 and 0.40, indicating that self-weight does influence the vertical profile, while it does not significantly affect the diagonal profile. The specialized software obtains specific data for structural calculations, such as deflection, which yielded a result of 2.8 cm compared to the permissible 3.33 cm calculated, and stresses, which in the most demanding case reached around 1400 kg/cm² out of the permissible 1500 kg/cm² established. Based on these results, a simulation was obtained that meets all the parameters established by the Ecuadorian Construction Standard, supporting a maximum unit load of 9.6 kg/cm².