• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.3
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• pp.271-282
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• 2019

The span record of cable-stayed bridges has exceeded 1,000 m, which makes research on the maximum possible span length of cable-stayed bridges an important topic in the engineering community. In this paper, span limit is discussed from two perspectives: the theoretical span limit determined by the strength-to-density ratio of the cable and girder, and the engineering span limit, which depends not only on the strength-to-density ratio of materials but also on the actual loading conditions. Closed form equations of both theoretical and engineering span limits of cable-stayed bridges determined by the cable and girder are derived and a detailed parametric analysis is conducted to assess the engineering span limit under current technical conditions. The results show that the engineering span limit of cable-stayed bridges is about 2,200 m based on materials used available today. The girder is the critical member restricting further increase in the span length; its compressive stress is the limiting factor. Approaches to increasing the engineering span limit are also presented based on the analysis results.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.407-424
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• 2015

To explore the favorable structural system of cable-stayed bridges with ultra-kilometer main span, based on a fully self-anchored cable-stayed bridge with 1400 m main span, a partially earth-anchored cable-stayed bridge scheme with the same main span is designed. Numerical investigation on the dynamic characteristics, aerostatic and aerodynamic stability of both two bridge schemes is conducted, and the results are compared to those of a suspension bridge with similar main span, and considering from the aspect of wind stability, the feasibility of using partially earth-anchored cable-stayed bridge in super long-span bridges with ultra-kilometer main span is discussed. Moreover, the effects of structural design parameters including the length of earth-anchored girder, the number of auxiliary piers in side span, the height and width of girder, the tower height etc on the dynamic characteristics, aerostatic and aerodynamic stability of a partially earth-anchored cable-stayed bridge are analyzed, and their reasonable values are proposed. The results show that as compared to fully self-anchored cable-stayed bridge and suspension bridge with similar main span, the partially earth-anchored cable-stayed bridge has greater structural stiffness and better aerostatic and aerodynamic stability, and consequently becomes a favorable structural system for super long-span bridges with ultra-kilometer main span. The partially earth-anchored cable-stayed bridge can achieve greater stiffness and better wind stability under the cases of increasing the earth-anchored girder length, increasing the height and width of girder, setting several auxiliary piers in side span and increasing the tower height.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.189-198
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• 2019

This paper aims to study the mechanical performance of three-tower four-span suspension bridges with steel truss girders, including the static and dynamic characteristics of the bridge system, and more importantly, the influence of structural parameters including the side-main span ratio, sag-to-span ratio and the girder stiffness on key mechanical indices. For this purpose, the Oujiang River North Estuary Bridge which is a three-tower four-span suspension bridge with two main spans of 800m under construction in China is taken as an example in this study. This will be the first three-tower suspension bridge with steel truss girders in the world. The mechanical performance study and parametric analysis are conducted based on a validated three-dimensional spatial truss finite element model established for the Oujiang River North Estuary Bridge using MIDAS Civil. It is found that a relatively small side-main span ratio seems to be quite appropriate from the perspective of mechanical performance. And decreasing the sag-to-span ratio is an effective way to reduce the horizontal force subjected to the midtower and improve the antiskid safety of the main cable, while the vertical stiffness of the bridge will be reduced. However, the girder stiffness is shown to be of minimal significance on the mechanical performance. The findings from this paper can be used for design of three-tower suspension bridges with steel truss girders.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.193-200
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• 1998

The precast prestressed concrete girders of I-type section are frequently employed to design the short-to-medium span bridge. However, its beam depth is greatly increased as its span length is increased over than about 30m. Therefore, the economic and aesthetic effectiveness are rapidly decreased in case of the span length over 30m. The purpose of this paper is to verify the structural safety on the new spliced two span bridge and analyze the variation of member forces and stress distribution according to the construction stages and time. The new spliced technique is performed by partial post tensioning and release in the U-type girders. The structural characteristics of this technique is the introduction of secondary moment to reduce the bending moment by self weight of precast U-type girders constructed in simply supported beam type. So, it is expected that the structural efficiency of this spliced bridge may be improved more than other techniques.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.97-103
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• 2016

This study investigates effects of partially earth anchored cable system on the structural safety for a long-span cable-stayed bridge under dynamic loads such as seismic and wind load. For a three span cable-stayed bridge with a main span length of 810 m, two models are analyzed and compared; one is a bridge model with a self anchored cable system, the other is a bridge model with a partially earth anchored cable system. By performing multi-mode spectrum analysis for a prescribed seismic load and multi-mode buffeting analysis for a fluctuating wind component, the structural response of two models are compared. From results, the partially earth anchored cable system reduce the maximum pylon moment by 66% since earth anchored cables affect the natural frequencies of girder vertical modes and pylon longitudinal modes. In addition, the girder axial forces are decreased, specially the decrement of the axial force is large in seismic load, while girder moment is slightly increased. Thus, the partially earth anchored cable system is effective system not only on reduction of girder axial forces but also improvement of structural safety of a cable-stayed bridge under dynamic loads such as seismic and wind loads.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.459-472
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• 2020

This study focused on the non-synoptic, tornado-like wind-induced effects on flexible horizontal structures that are extremely sensitive to winds. More specifically, the nonuniform, intensive vertical wind-velocity and transient natures of tornado events and their effects on the global behavior of a long-span bridge were investigated. In addition to the static part in the modeling of tornado-like wind-induced loads, the motion-induced effects were modeled using the semi-empirical model with a two-dimensional (2-D) indicial response function. Both nonlinear wind-induced static analysis and linear aeroelastic analysis in the time domain were conducted based on a 3-D finite-element model to investigate the bridge performance under the most unfavorable tornado pattern considering wind-structure interactions. The results from the present study highlighted the important effects due to abovementioned tornado natures (i.e., nonuniform, intensive vertical wind-velocity and transient features) on the long-span bridge, and hence may facilitate more appropriate wind design of flexible horizontal structures in the tornado-prone areas.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.225-232
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• 2017

Leaning-type arch bridge is a new spatial structural system composed of two vertical arches and two leaning arches. So far there has been no contrast analysis of leaning type arch bridge with different systems. This paper focus on a parametric study of leaning type arch bridge with different systems to find the influential rules on structural forces and stability and to provide some reference for practical designs. The parametric analysis is conducted with different rise-to-span ratios and bending rigidities of arch ribs by comparing internal forces. The internal forces decline obviously with the increase of the rise-to-span ratio. The bending moments at the centers of the main arches and the leaning arches are sensitive to the bending rigidities of arch ribs. Parametric studies are also carried out with different structural systems and leaning angles of the leaning arch by comparing the static stability. The lateral stiffness of leaning-type arch bridge is less than the in-plan stiffness. Compared with the leaning-type arch bridge without thrust, the leaning-type arch bridge with thrust has a lower stability safety coefficient. The stability safety coefficient rises gradually with the increase of inclining angle of the leaning arch. This study shows that the rise-to-span ratio, bending rigidities of arch ribs, structural system and leaning angles of the leaning arch are all critical design parameters. Therefore, these parameters in unreasonable range should be avoided.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.393-402
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• 2020

Long-span bridges with high flexibility and low structural damping are very susceptible to the vortex-induced vibration (VIV), which causes extremely negative impacts on the ride comfort of vehicles running on the bridges. To assess the ride comfort of vehicles running on the long-span bridges subjected to VIV, a coupled wind-vehicle-bridge system applicable to the VIV case is firstly developed in this paper. In this system, the equations of motion of the vehicles and the bridge subjected to VIV are established and coupled through the vehicle-bridge interaction. Based on the dynamic responses of the vehicles obtained by solving the coupled system, the ride comfort of the vehicles can be evaluated using the method given in ISO 2631-1. At last, the proposed framework is applied to several case studies, where a long-span suspension bridge and two types of vehicles are taken into account. The effects of vehicle speed, vehicle type, road roughness and vehicle number on the ride comfort are investigated.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Advanced Composite Structures
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.30-36
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• 2013

Partially earth anchored (PEA) can improve the structural safety and economic feasibility of multiple span cable stayed bridge (CSB). The PEA-CSB can restrain axial compressive load acting on a tower and reduce the global buckling length of a stiffened girder. For these reasons, structural members subject to axial forces can be effectively utilized and material quantity required for a steel deck can be reduced to save construction cost. In this study, the PEA system was verified for its application on a multiple span CSB. The CSB is a four-tower multi-span bridge which has a main span length of 500 m. As high tensile stress was generated at the top of the bridge decks at the mid-span between two main columns, a hybrid deck system for enhancing the bridge deck sections was proposed. While the composite sections made of concrete and steel were used near to the main columns, steel sections were used at the mid-span between two main columns.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.651-670
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• 2007

An experimental study to evaluate a redundancy capacity in simple span two plate-girder bridges, which are generally classified as a non-redundant load path structure, has been performed under the condition that one of the two girders is seriously damaged. The bottom lateral bracing was selected as an experimental parameter and two 1/5-scale bridge specimens with and without bottom lateral bracing have been prepared. The loading tests were first performed on the intact specimens without cracked girder within elastic range. Thereafter, the ultimate loading tests were conducted on the damaged specimens with an induced crack at the center of a girder. The test results showed that the cross beams and concrete deck redistributed partly the applied load to the uncracked girder, but the lateral bracing system played a significant role of the load redistribution when a girder was damaged. The redundancy was evaluated based on the test results and an appropriate redundancy level was evaluated when the lateral bracing was provided in a seriously damaged simple span two-girder steel bridge.