A Review on Modal Analysis of a Cable-Stayed Bridge: Methods for Analyzing Cable-Stayed Bridge Behavior

Abstract

Cable-stayed bridges with longer spans and slender girder sections are constantly built around the world, pushing their analysis and design to their extremes. Therefore having a good understanding of the structure’s behavior is of vital importance. Several methodologies exist when it comes to model the cables of cable-stayed bridges accounting for the cable’s sag effect. These methodologies can be classified in two distinct groups. The first is based on polynomial interpolation of the shape and displacement field of the cable such as the methodology of straight bar with equivalent elasticity modulus and the derivation of Isoparametric cable formulation. The second group of methodologies uses analytical functions that define the cable shape under certain load conditions such as the elastic Catenary. There are several applications that require accurate finite element models such as earthquake or wind simulations, health monitoring and structural control.