A truss model was introduced to represent steel and
steel–concrete composite plate girders.
In previous papers the capacity of this model to correctly predict the real 3D behavior of
complicated topologies, such as curved or skewed bridges was
studied.
This paper examines the capacity of the truss model to
non-linear stability applications that include more stability modes,
like lateral torsional, or local buckling.
Initial geometrical
imperfections were included in the analysis. Linear buckling and
geometrically and material non-linear analyses were performed
with the truss model and a detailed shell FE-model. The results
indicate that the equivalent truss model