Effects of mass growing on mechanical and hygrothermic response of three-dimensional bodies

The consequences of the phenomenon of mass growing on the stress and strain state (above all on the evolution of relaxation processes coupled with damage) of bridge girder sections are analysed in detail. During the deformation process the mass of growing deformable solids increases by way of a gradual addition of material onto the external surface of the solids themselves. The process of discrete growth only is investigated in this paper; it is represented by the simulation of the building sequence of dams or, as in the specific case, of bridges. The numerical application describes an I-shaped bridge girder section, growing in time through the casting of the slab and, subsequently, by a restoration concrete layer. A computing procedure based on the finite element method was chosen to analyse creep and shrinkage coupled with damage.