• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2007

This study introduces an elastic parabolic cable element for initial shaping analysis of cable-stayed bridges. First, an elastic catenary cable theory is shortly summarized by deriving the compatibility condition and the tangent stiffness matrices of the elastic catenary cable element. Next, the force-deformation relations and the tangent stiffness matrices of the elastic parabolic cable elements are derived from the assumption that sag configuration under self-weights is small. In addition the equivalent cable tension is defined in the chord-wise direction. Finally, to confirm the accuracy of this element, initial shaping analysis of cable-stayed bridges under dead loads is executed using TCUD in which stay cables are modeled by an elastic parabolic cable and an elastic catenary cable element, respectively. Resultantly it turns that unstrained lengths of stay cables, the equivalent cable tensions, and maximum tensions by the parabolic cable element are nearly the same as those by the catenary cable elements.

• Computational Structural Engineering
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.179-190
• /
• 1998

A geometrically nonlinear finite element formulation of spatial cable networks is presented using two cable elements. Firstly, derivation procedures of tangent stiffness and mass matrices for the space truss element and the elastic catenary cable element are summarized. The load incremental method based on Newton-Raphson iteration method and the dynamic relaxation method are presented in order to determine the initial static state of cable nets subjected to self-weights and support motions. Furthermore, static non-linear analysis of cable structures under additional live loads are performed based on the initial configuration. Challenging example problems are presented and discussed in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the present finite element method and investigate static nonlinear behaviors of cable nets.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.947-970
• /
• 2015

An equivalent friction element is proposed to simulate the friction in cable-strut joints. Equivalent stiffness matrixes and load vectors of the friction element are derived and are unified into patterns for FEM by defining a virtual node specially to store internal forces. Three approaches are described to verify the rationality of the new equivalent friction element: applying the new element in a cable-roller model, and numerical solutions match well with experimental results; applying the element in a continuous sliding cable model, and theoretical values, numerical and experimental results are compared; and the last is applying it in truss string structures, whose results indicate that there would be a great error if the cable of cable supported structures is simulated with discontinuous cable model which is usually adopted in traditional finite element analysis, and that the prestress loss resulted from the friction in cable-strut joints would have adverse effect on the mechanical performance of cable supported structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.68 no.4
• /
• pp.399-408
• /
• 2018

Cable supported structures have been widely used in civil engineering. Cable tension estimation has great importance in cable supported structures' analysis, ranging from design to construction and from inspection to maintenance. Even though the Bernoulli-Euler beam element is commonly used in the traditional finite element method for calculation of frequency and cable tension estimation, many elements must be meshed to achieve accurate results, leading to expensive computation. To improve the accuracy and efficiency, a dynamic finite element method for estimation of cable tension is proposed. In this method, following the dynamic stiffness matrix method, frequency-dependent shape functions are adopted to derive the stiffness and mass matrices of an exact beam element that can be used for natural frequency calculation and cable tension estimation. An iterative algorithm is used for the exact beam element to determine both the exact natural frequencies and the cable tension. Illustrative examples show that, compared with the cable tension estimation method using the conventional beam element, the proposed method has a distinct advantage regarding the accuracy and the computational time.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.691-711
• /
• 2006

This paper uses the finite element method to simultaneously consider the coupled cable-deck vibrations and the parametric vibrations of stay cables in dynamic analysis of a cable-stayed bridge. The stay cables are represented by some cable finite elements, which can consider the parametric vibration of the cables. In addition to modeling stay cables using multiple link cable elements, a procedure for removing the self-weight term of cable element is proposed. A eigenvalue analysis process using dynamic condensation method for sorting out the natural modes of the girder-tower vibrations and the Rayleigh damping considering element damping for damping matrix are also proposed for dynamic analyses of cable-stayed bridges. The possibilities of using cable elements and of using global and local vibrations to evaluate the parametric vibrations of stay cables in a cable-stayed bridge are confirmed, respectively.

• Architectural research
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.39-47
• /
• 2016

A finite element analysis technology applicable to the prediction of the static nonlinear response of cable roof structure is presented. The unified kinematic description is employed to formulate the present cable element and different strain definitions such as Green-Lagrange strain, Biot strain and Hencky strain can be adopted. The Newton-Raphson method is used to trace the nonlinear load-displacement path. In the iteration process, the compressive stress of a cable element is not allowed. For the verification of the present cable element, four numerical examples are tackled. Finally, numerical results obtained by using the present cable element are provided as new benchmark test results for cable structures under static loads.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
• /
• 1997.10a
• /
• pp.134-141
• /
• 1997

A geometrically non-linear finite element formulation of spatial cable networks is presented using three cable elements. Firstly, derivation procedures of tangent stiffness and mass matrices for the space truss element and the elastic catenary cable element, and the isoparametric cable element are summarized. The load incremental method based on Newton-Raphson iteration method and the dynamic relaxation method are presented in order to determine the initial static state of cable nets subjected to self-weights and support motions. Furthermore, static non-linear analysis of cable structures under additional live loads are performed based on the initial configuration. Challenging example problems are presented and discussed in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the present finite element method and investigate static non-linear behaviors of cable nets.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.575-597
• /
• 2006

Enhanced three-dimensional finite elements for geometrically nonlinear analysis of cable-supported structures are presented. The cable element, derived by using the concept of an equivalent modulus of elasticity and assuming the deflection curve of a cable as catenary function, is proposed to model the cables. The stability functions for a frame member are modified to obtain a numerically stable solution. Various numerical examples are solved to illustrate the versatility and efficiency of the proposed finite element model. It is shown that the finite elements proposed in this study can be very useful for geometrically nonlinear analysis as well as free vibration analysis of three-dimensional cable-supported structures.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.31 no.5A
• /
• pp.361-367
• /
• 2011

This study introduces an elastic parabolic cable element for initial shaping analysis of cable-supported structures. First, an elastic catenary cable theory is shortly summarized by deriving the compatibility condition and the tangent stiffness matrices of the elastic catenary cable element. Next, the force-deformation relations and the tangent stiffness matrices of the elastic parabolic cable elements are derived and discussed under the assumption that sag configuration under self-weights is small. In addition the equivalent cable tension is defined in the chord-wise direction. Finally, to demonstrate the accuracy of the elastic parabolic cable element, nonlinear relationships of nominal cable tension-chord length and nominal cable tension-tangential stiffness for a single element are presented and compared with results using an elastic catenary cable theory as the slope is varied.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.719-738
• /
• 2010

The aim of this paper concerns with the nonlinear analysis of cable-stayed bridges including the vibration effect of cable stays. Two models for the cable stay system are built up in the study. One is the OECS (one element cable system) model in which one single element per cable stay is used and the other is MECS (multi-elements cable system) model, where multi-elements per cable stay are used. A finite element computation procedure has been set up for the nonlinear analysis of such kind of structures. For shape finding of the cable-stayed bridge with MECS model, an efficient computation procedure is presented by using the two-loop iteration method (equilibrium iteration and shape iteration) with help of the catenary function method to discretize each single cable stay. After the convergent initial shape of the bridge is found, further analysis can then be performed. The structural behaviors of cable-stayed bridges influenced by the cable lateral motion will be examined here detailedly, such as the static deflection, the natural frequencies and modes, and the dynamic responses induced by seismic loading. The results show that the MECS model offers the real shape of cable stays in the initial shape, and all the natural frequencies and modes of the bridge including global modes and local modes. The global mode of the bridge consists of coupled girder, tower and cable stays motion and is a coupled mode, while the local mode exhibits only the motion of cable stays and is uncoupled with girder and tower. The OECS model can only offers global mode of tower and girder without any motion of cable stays, because each cable stay is represented by a single straight cable (or truss) element. In the nonlinear seismic analysis, only the MECS model can offer the lateral displacement response of cable stays and the axial force variation in cable stays. The responses of towers and girders of the bridge determined by both OECS- and MECS-models have no great difference.