PARAMETRIC GEOMETRICAL AND STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF VIADUCT OF THE LINK BETWEEN THE BAIX LLOBREGAT DUAL CARRIAGE WAY AND THE AP-7 MOTORWAY IN CASTELLBISBAL

Nowadays the world of engineering and architecture, through the use of new technologies is coming to develop buildings, infrastructures and cities always more complex. There are more and more factors to take into account in the design process, and it is difficult to manage them all in one team or model. New modelling technologies and software are accelerating this process. Among these new programs, those involving parametric design are gaining momentum. The topics addressed in this research work are mainly about how to develop a parametric model, first from the point of view of geometries, and then from the point of view of structural analysis. The thesis work was carried out at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), in the Faculty of Civil Engineering, within the research program, held by Professor Chacón, called Digital Twins. The research laboratory deals with digitally linking the built structures considered throughout the Iberic Peninsula, to a digital model developed with certain software. In this thesis, among the different types of constructions, the viaduct 2 connecting the Baix Llobregat dual carriageway and the AP-7 motorway in Castellbisbal has been taken as a case study. More precisely the case study is a horizontally curved steel box girder bridge with a reinforced floor slab. The geometric model was then parametrically digitized within the Rhino environment implementing a Grasshopper and Python script. The thesis describes step by step the process of parametric digitization of the case study, starting from the spatial insertion of coordinates, through the development of the first horizontal structures, such as the reinforced concrete slab, the steel box structure with its own stiffening, and the diagonals; to the elevation structures such as columns and foundations. Finally, some simple structural analyses were carried out, which are often devolved in the predesign phase, such as the calculation of stresses, deformations, and deflections. Everything was performed in parametric form within the FE modelling software Karamba3D. The work done explains how to create a structural model in the just mentioned Rhino plug-in, analyse it and optimize the cross-section of the diagonal beams.