Experimental and Numerical Analysis of the Collapse Behaviour of a Cracked Box Girder Under Bidirectional Cyclic Bending Moments

This study presents an integrated experimental and numerical investigation into the collapse characteristics of a cracked box girder subjected to bidirectional cyclic bending moments. An experimental test involving a box girder specimen with a prefabricated transverse crack on the deck panel is conducted under four-point bending to evaluate the influence of cracking on ultimate strength under cyclic loading. The findings are reported through load–displacement curves, strain measurements, and observations of both global and localised structural failure modes, demonstrating strong consistency with finite element simulations conducted using ABAQUS software (version 2022). The results reveal that cyclic loading prior to ultimate capacity induces negligible stiffness reduction in the box girder structure, consistent with the structural behaviour under monotonic loading. The initial failure mechanism is attributed to local buckling of the deck plate, subsequently followed by significant plastic deformation around the crack tips, ultimately leading to global collapse. Parametric studies are carried out to evaluate the influence of key variables on the girder’s residual strength, such as crack length, cyclic load amplitude and pattern.