Bridges--Live loads--Evaluation--Computer programs

Model
Digital Document
Publisher
Florida Atlantic University
Description
The Knowledge Based System CARAT is developed to rate any existing steel truss bridge. CARAT is capable of rating statically determinate and indeterminate truss bridges. Corrosion, temperature effects and the remaining fatigue life of the truss members can be evaluated using CARAT. The other expert system SKEWRAT is developed to determine the strength of skew bridges. Skew AASHTO girder and slab bridges can be analyzed using SKEWRAT. The architecture of both CARAT and SKEWRAT are based on production system model and set of IF-THEN rules are developed using EXSYS Professional Shell editor. The inference mechanism fire rules according to the built-in reasoning process. The suggestions given by Bakht and Jaeger (8) are incorporated to determine the strength characteristics of skewed AASHTO girder and slab bridges. Programming Languages FORTRAN and C are used extensively for the software development. The validity of both the softwares are verified and illustrated in detail with four examples.