Transient Thermal Analysis of Concrete Box Girders: Assessing Temperature Variations in Canadian Climate Zones

This study examines the temperature distributions and thermal-induced responses in reinforced concrete bridge elements, focusing on the Canadian climate regions. The Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code (CHBDC) currently utilizes a fixed thermal gradient profile that does not account for regional climatic variations. Historical environmental data determines the effective maximum temperatures in the CHBDC. In order to investigate temperature behaviors and distributions, a transient finite element (FE) model is developed using recorded and calculated 3-month thermal loads data for representative cities in different climate regions. The results indicate that the predicted daily maximum effective mean temperatures and extreme daily positive vertical thermal gradients do not align. A linear correlation exists between the daily maximum effective mean temperature and the daily maximum air temperature, with a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.935. The proposed effective mean temperatures obtained from the FE thermal analysis are higher than the CHBDC recommendations. New thermal gradient profiles are proposed for Canadian climate zones, consisting of two straight lines and a linear gradient at the top and bottom sections. A comparison between the proposed profiles and the CHBDC and AASHTO specifications reveals that a single fixed thermal gradient profile is inadequate to account for the variation in thermal gradients across Canadian climate regions.