Progressive Cable Yielding of a Cable-Stayed Bridge Considering Geometric Nonlinearities and Uncertainties of Loads

Abstract

<p>In this paper, a numerical study to assess the vehicle carrying safety of a cable-stayed bridge considering the cables plasticity propagation within the cable net is conducted. A simplified 2D finite-element cable-stayed bridge model is analysed under its dead weight and the in-service live loads. All types of geometric nonlinearity, namely the cable sag effect, the axial force-bending moment interaction within the deck and pylons, and finally the change of geometry due to large displacements, are considered in the analysis. Vehicle load multipliers are computed based on the load incremental analysis until the bridge get to the considered state that four cables have reached their plastic behaviour, which represents the initial progressive plasticity occurring in the cable net system. The probability distributions of load multipliers considering progressive cables plasticity are computed using the Monte Carlo simulation concerning uncertainties of loads.</p>