• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.65-75
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• 2015

Among the destruction instances of half-through arch bridges, the shorter hangers are more likely to be ruined. For a thorough investigation of the hanger system durability, we have studied vehicle impact effect on hangers with vehicle-bridge coupling method for a half-through concrete-filled-steel-tube arch bridge. A numerical method has been applied to simulate the variation of dynamic internal force (stress) in hangers under different vehicle speeds and road surface roughness. The characteristics and differences in impact effect among hangers with different length (position) are compared. The impact effect is further analyzed comprehensively based on the vehicle speed distribution model. Our results show that the dynamic internal force induced by moving vehicles inside the shorter hangers is significantly greater than that inside the longer ones. The largest difference of dynamic internal force among the hangers could be as high as 28%. Our results well explained a common phenomenon in several hanger damage accidents occurred in China. This work forms a basis for hanger system's fatigue analysis and service life evaluation. It also provides a reference to the design, management, maintenance, monitoring, and evaluation for this kind of bridge.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.241-255
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• 2014

The girder of self-anchored suspension bridge is subjected to large compression force applied by main cables. So, serious damage of the girder due to breakage of hangers may cause collapse of the whole bridge. With the time increasing, the hangers may break suddenly for their resistance capacities decrease due to corrosion. Using nonlinear static and dynamic analysis methods and adopting 3D finite element model, the responses of a concrete self-anchored suspension bridge to sudden breakage of hangers are studied in this paper. The results show that the sudden breakage of a hanger has significant effects on tensions of the hangers next to the broken hanger, bending and torsion moments of the girder, moments of the towers and reaction forces of the bearings. The results obtained from dynamic analysis method are very different from those obtained from static analysis method. The maximum tension of hanger produced by breakage of a hanger exceeds 2.2 times of its initial value, the maximum dynamic amplification factor reaches 2.54, which is larger than the value of 2.0 recommended for cable-stayed bridge in PTI codes. If two adjacent hangers on the same side of bridge break one after another, the maximum tension of other hangers exceeds 3.0 times of its initial value. If the safety factor adopted to design hanger is too small, or the hangers have been exposed to corrosion, the bridge may collapse due to breakage of two adjacent hangers.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1309-1317
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• 1994

Because the stiffening girders are constructed after the installation of hangers for typical suspension bridge, no additional tensioning to hangers in construction is necessary for this bridge type in which main cable is earth-anchored. However, for self-anchored suspension bridge, hangers are installed after temporarily supporting stiffening girders constructed in previous stage. Therefore, initial tension is required on installing hangers. Tension of hangers varies as the construction proceeds. Hence, it is necessary to determine the most efficient method of installing hangers among several methods. This study presents finite element procedures and the algorithms of construction stage analysis to simulate construction processes. Geometric nonlinear analysis scheme is also included. The most effective method regarding the installation of hangers is presented through the examples of actual bridge model.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.683-693
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• 2019

In August 2012, during the passage of the typhoon Haikui (1211), large amplitude vibrations were observed on long hangers of the Xihoumen suspension Bridge, which destroyed a few viscoelastic dampers originally installed to connect a pair of hanger ropes transversely. The purpose of this study is to identify the cause of vibration and to develop countermeasures against vibration. Field measurements have been conducted in order to correlate the wind and vibration characteristics of hangers. Furthermore, a replica aeroelastic model of prototype hangers consisting of four parallel ropes was used to study the aeroelastic behavior of hanger ropes and to examine the effect of the rigid spacers on vibration mitigation. It is shown that the downstream hanger rope experiences the most violent elliptical vibration for certain wind direction, and the vibration is mainly attributed to wake interference of parallel hanger ropes. Based on wind tunnel tests and field validation, it is confirmed that four rigid spacers placed vertically at equal intervals are sufficient to suppress the wake-induced vibrations. Since the deployment of spacers on hangers, server hanger vibrations and clash of hanger ropes are never observed.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.15-29
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• 2019

This paper addresses the problem of damage detection in suspension bridge hangers, with an emphasis on the modal flexibility method. It aims at evaluating the capability and the accuracy of the modal flexibility method to detect and locate single and multiple damages in suspension bridge hangers, with different level of severity and various locations. The study is conducted numerically and experimentally on a laboratory suspension bridge mock-up. First, the covariance-driven stochastic subspace identification is used to extract the modal parameters of the bridge from experimental data, using only output measurements data from ambient vibration. Then, the method is demonstrated for several damage scenarios and compared against other classical methods, such as: Coordinate Modal Assurance Criterion (COMAC), Enhanced Coordinate Modal Assurance Criterion (ECOMAC), Mode Shape Curvature (MSC) and Modal Strain Energy (MSE). The paper demonstrates the relative merits and shortcomings of these methods which play a significant role in the damage detection ofsuspension bridges.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.39-61
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• 2017

Buffeting induced resonance (BIR) of hangers on long-suspension bridges is briefly reviewed, including mechanism and experimental verification. Taken the Xihoumen suspension bridge as a numerical example, sensitivities of the BIR of hangers to wind properties are investigated, including types of wind spectrum, turbulence intensity, and spacial coherence of wind fluctuations. Numerical simulations indicate that the BIR of hangers occur to both cases of different wind spectra, showing that it is insensitive to types of wind spectrum. On the other hand, it is found that the turbulence intensity affects buffeting of main cables almost in a linear manner, and so it does to the BIR of the hangers; however, the resonance factors, namely the ratio of the response of the hanger to that of the main cable, are little affected by the turbulence intensity. The spacial coherence of the wind fluctuations, although plays an important role on the buffeting responses of the main structure, has no substantial effects on the BIR of the hangers. Finally, replacement of steel strand with CFRP material has been verified as a very effective countermeasure against the BIR of hangers.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 2010

Recently, various evaluations concerning structural stability under construction step and completely constructed step have been executed during a Long-span Arch Bridge designing procedure. However, the breakage of cable-hangers of arched bridge in unexpected accident or periodic cable-replacement has not been considered. Therefore, the purpose of this study is that analyzing structural safety of arched bridge when the cable-hangers being fractured by that reasons. Dynamic analysis are performed by idealizing impact load to three types of impact functions as fracturing the cables. Consequently, when the hangers are fractured, the maximum tensile force by dynamic analysis is larger than those by static analysis. Therefore, the dynamic analysis is demanded to accurately obtain the responses for the structural stability with a realistic impact loading model in the breakage and replacement of cable hangers of long-span arched bride. Moreover, the analysis method and results in this study can be used to basic criteria in design.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.57-68
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• 2023

Bridge hangers, such as those in suspension and cable-stayed bridges, suffer from cumulative fatigue damage caused by dynamic loads (e.g., cyclic traffic and wind loads) in their service condition. Thus, the identification of damage to hangers is important in preserving the service life of the bridge structure. This study develops a new method for condition assessment of bridge hangers. The tension force of the bridge and the damages in the element level can be identified using the Bayesian optimization method. To improve the number of observed data, the additional mass method is combined the Bayesian optimization method. Numerical studies are presented to verify the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method. The influence of different acquisition functions, which include expected improvement (EI), probability-of-improvement (PI), lower confidence bound (LCB), and expected improvement per second (EIPC), on the identification of damage to the bridge hanger is studied. Results show that the errors identified by the EI acquisition function are smaller than those identified by the other acquisition functions. The identification of the damage to the bridge hanger with various types of boundary conditions and different levels of measurement noise are also studied. Results show that both the severity of the damage and the tension force can be identified via the proposed method, thereby verifying the robustness of the proposed method. Compared to the genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and nonlinear least-square method (NLS), the Bayesian optimization (BO) performs best in identifying the structural damage and tension force.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.479-495
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• 2019

In tied-arch bridges, the way the arch and the deck are connected may become crucial. The deck is usually suspended from hangers made out of steel pinned cables capable of resisting axial forces only. However, a proper structural response may be ensured by fixing and stiffening the hangers in order to resist, additionally, shear forces and bending moments. Thus, this paper studies the effect of different pinned and stiffened hanger arrangements on the structural behavior of the tied-arch bridges, with the intention of providing designers with useful tools at the early steps of design. Longitudinally and transversally stiffened hangers (and the effect of hinges at the hangers and their locations) are studied separately because the in-plane and the out-of-plane behavior of the bridge are uncoupled due to its symmetry. As a major conclusion, regarding the in-plane behavior, hangers composed of cables (either with vertical, $Nielsen-L\ddot{o}hse$ or network arrangements) are recommended due to its low cost and ease of erection. Alternatively, longitudinally stiffened hangers, fixed at both ends, can be used. Regarding the out-of-plane behavior, and in addition to three-dimensional arrangements of cables, of limited effectiveness, transversally stiffened hangers fixed at both ends are the most efficient arrangement. A configuration almost as efficient and, additionally, cheaper and easier to build can be achieved by locating a hinge at the end corresponding to the most flexible structural element (normally the arch). Its efficiency is further improved if the cross-section tapers from the fixed end to the pinned end.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.786-793
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• 2006

For the purpose of developing a vibration-based tension force evaluation procedure for hangers in suspension bridges, a 3D finite element model of hangers is constructed in this paper. With the developed finite element formulation, a frequency-based sensitivity-updating algorithm is applied to identify the target cable system the proposed method is also able to identify the flexural rigidity. the axial rigidity, and the torsion rigidity of a cable. For a field application, a vibration test on hangers of the Yong Jong Grand Suspension Bridge is carried out and the collected data is used to verify the proposed method.