Shear lag effect of curved box girder under multi-dimensional seismic excitation is studied in this paper. Firstly, spatial finite element model is established based on ANSYS, and a seismic wave, which is recorded in second site, is chosen as ground acceleration time history. Secondly, elastic dynamic time-history analysis focused on shear lag effect is carried out, where 4 working conditions, 3-D seismic, longitudinal-vertical seismic, vertical seismic and transverse seismic only, are considered. Thirdly, critical angle of seismic waves is investigated, it is seen that under seismic excitation, there is a prominent shear lag effect on upper flange at mid-span of the curved box girder, and there are also various shear lag effect modes under the different working conditions of seismic excitation. The shear lag under 3-D seismic is severest, normal stress is concentrated on inside upper flange, then that under longitudinal-vertical seismic is less serious, in which case, the stress is appearing within a regional proximity to the junction between webs and flange, the next is under vertical seismic, and the shear lag effect under transverse seismic is most non-prominent. Finally, the numeric results are compared with the experimental results from a vibration table testing, which shows great consistencies
