• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.80 no.6
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• pp.749-765
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• 2021

Suspension bridges bear large eccentric live loads in rush hours when most vehicles travel in one direction on the left or right side of the bridge. With the increasing number and weight of vehicles and the girder widening, the eccentric live load effect on the bridge behavior, including bending and distortion of the main girder, gets more pronounced, even jeopardizing bridge safety. This study proposes an analytical algorithm based on multi-catenary theory for predicting the suspension bridge responses to eccentric live load via the nonlinear generalized reduced gradient method. A set of governing equations is derived to solve the following unknown values: the girder rigid-body displacement in the longitudinal direction; the horizontal projection lengths of main cable's segments; the parameters of catenary equations and horizontal forces of the side span cable segments and the leftmost segments of middle span cables; the suspender tensions and the bearing reactions. Then girder's responses, including rigid-body displacement in the longitudinal direction, deflections, and torsion angles; suspenders' responses, including the suspender tensions and the hanging point displacements; main cables' responses, including the horizontal forces of each segment; and the longitudinal displacement of the pylons' tower top under eccentric load can be calculated. The response of an exemplar suspension bridge with three spans of 168, 548, and 168 m is calculated by the proposed analytical method and the finite element method in two eccentric live load cases, and their results prove the former's feasibility. The nonuniform distribution of the live load in the lateral direction is shown to impose a greater threat to suspension bridge safety than that in the longitudinal direction, while some other specific features revealed by the proposed method are discussed in detail.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.91-101
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• 2008

Structural analysis models to develop live load distribution factors of simply supported prestressed concrete I-girder bridge should have the precision of the analysis results as well as modeling simplicity. This is due to the numerous frequency of structural analysis needed while developing live load distribution factors. In this study, an appropriate structural analysis model is selected by comparing previous researchs studies and models used in practical design. Also, the influence by the flexural stiffness of barrier and diaphragm on the live load distribution had been analyzed through comparing the numerical analysis and experimental tests. As a result, the model that the eccentric girder and the barrier and diaphragm are connected to the deck plate was appropriate in satisfying both accuracy and simplicity for structural analysis of simply supported prestressed concrete I-girder bridge. However, the barrier was analyzed to have insignificant influence on the live load distribution in spite of its variation of stiffness. The eccentric diaphragm showed little influence at 25% or higher of flexural stiffness. From the results, a model that the girder is rigidly connected to the deck plate in consideration of the eccentricity, the barrier is ignored and the whole section of diaphragm is supposed to be valid without eccentricity is decided as the most appropriate structural model to develop the live load distribution factors of simply supported prestressed concrete I-girder bridge in this study.