Structural optimization of two-girder composite cable-stayed bridges under dead and live loads

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 939-953
Author(s):  
C.A.N. Santos ◽  
A.A. El Damatty ◽  
M.S. Pfeil ◽  
R.C. Battista

A large number of variables are involved in the optimization of cable-stayed bridges, which makes the optimization impractical when many load cases are considered. To reduce the number of variables to be optimized, a discrete phases approach for structural optimization is developed in this study. The approach couples the finite element method with the genetic algorithm optimization approach. The design variables are divided into two categories: (i) main variables: number of stay cables, I-girder inertia, concrete slab thickness, and tower dimensions; and (ii) secondary variables: I-girder dimensions, stay-cable areas, and pre-tensioning forces. Two design objectives are tested: (i) lightest deck mass; and (ii) lowest material cost. Three load cases are considered: (i) dead and truck plus lane live loads; (ii) dead and lane live loads; and (iii) dead load. The results show the importance of considering the truck loads in structural optimization and the efficacy of the phases approach for different objectives.

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Han-Hao Zhang ◽  
Nan-Nan Sun ◽  
Pei-Zhi Wang ◽  
Man-Hui Liu ◽  
Yuan Li

Modern cable-stayed bridges are spatial, multicable systems. The cable force needs to be adjusted during the construction phase and maintenance phase. The existing calculation methods of cable force adjustment mainly considered the rationality of structural force, but only few research studies have been conducted on how to reduce the number of stay cables which need to be adjusted. This study aims to propose an optimization calculation method including the optimization module with the sensitivity analysis and updating design variable module (UDVM), which are used for cable force adjustment in cable-stayed bridges. Based on the finite difference method, the sensitivity analysis is adopted in the optimization module, which can capture the response of structures as design variables vary; the particle swarm optimization method is adopted for structural optimization. The proposed method can dramatically reduce the number of stay cables which need to be adjusted and ensure the main girder stresses remain in a reasonable state during stay cable adjustment progress by UDVM. Moreover, the proposed method can continuously update the objective function, constraint conditions, and design variables. Finally, this proposed optimization calculation method is applied to two different cable-stayed bridges to validate the reliability and feasibility of the method.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seunghoo Jeong ◽  
Young-Joo Lee ◽  
Sung-Han Sim

As the construction of long-span bridges such as cable-stayed bridges increases worldwide, maintaining bridge serviceability and operability has become an important issue in civil engineering. The stay cable is a principal component of cable-stayed bridges and is generally lightly damped and intrinsically vulnerable to vibration. Excessive vibrations in stay cables can potentially cause long-term fatigue accumulation and serviceability issues. Previous studies have mainly focused on the mitigation of cable vibration within an acceptable operational level, while little attention has been paid to the quantitative assessment of serviceability enhancement provided by vibration control. This study accordingly proposed and evaluated a serviceability assessment method for stay cables equipped with vibration control. Cable serviceability failure was defined according to the range of acceptable cable responses provided in most bridge design codes. The cable serviceability failure probability was then determined by means of the first-passage problem using VanMarcke’s approximation. The proposed approach effectively allows the probability of serviceability failure to be calculated depending on the properties of any installed vibration control method. To demonstrate the proposed method, the stay cables of the Second Jindo Bridge in South Korea were evaluated and the analysis results accurately reflected cable behavior during a known wind event and show that the appropriate selection of vibration control method and properties can effectively reduce the probability of serviceability failure.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (15) ◽  
pp. 3161
Author(s):  
Flavio Stochino ◽  
Fernando Lopez Gayarre

Flat slabs have several advantages such as a reduced and simpler formwork, versatility, and easier space partitioning, thus making them an economical and efficient structural system. When producing structural components in series, every detail can lead to significant cost differences. In these cases, structural optimization is of paramount relevance. This paper reports on the structural optimization of reinforced concrete slabs, presenting the case of a rectangular slab with two clamped adjacent edges and two simply supported edges. Using the yield lines method and the principle of virtual work, a cost function can be formulated and optimized using simulated annealing (SA). Thus, the optimal distribution of reinforcing bars and slab thickness can be found considering the flexural ultimate limit state and market materials costs. The optimum result was defined by the orthotropic coefficient k = 8, anisotropic coefficient g = 1.4, and slab thickness H = 11.8 cm. A sensitivity analysis of the solution was developed considering different material costs.


Author(s):  
Julien-Erdem Erdogan ◽  
Ivica Zivanovic ◽  
Matthieu Guesdon

<p>Deviation saddles for cables are regularly used in projects such as cable stayed bridges, suspended bridges or extradossed bridges. The choice of a deviation saddle may be imposed to improve the bridge aesthetics with a slender pylon and to simplify the construction with a solid pylon section. Saddles are a proper anchorage and must be designed such as to ensure a safe transfer of vertical forces and of differential forces of stay cables into the pylon structure.</p><p>For parallel strand cables, since grouted stay cable tends to disappear from commonly accepted design and technologies, due to corrosion protection and fatigue issues, the most widely used concept of saddle is made of a battery of individual tubes, placed inside a guide pipe poured of concrete.</p><p>The most recent saddle system developed consists in allowing the passage of the strands through the saddle without individual tubes. Strands go directly through concrete recesses within the Ultra High Performance Fiber Concrete (UHPFC) matrix. Recesses are made thanks to reusable rubber bars removed after poured concrete is hardened. Thanks to an optimized cross section of the recesses, individual holes maximize the friction between the concrete and specially sheathed strands with local application of a cohesive sheathing (Cohestrand®), which allow strands to transfer important asymmetrical loads to the saddle without sliding. Meanwhile, a continuous corrosion protection is ensured by the strand sheathing from one deck anchorage to the other.</p><p>This make the use of saddle a cost-effective and durable mean to deviate and anchor parallel strand cables, that suits Owners needing simple but robust design for stay cable or extradossed bridges. Such saddle bridge design is nowadays clearly described in the 7<span>th</span> edition of the PTI recommendations, that specifies the qualification process of saddle technologies, especially in regards to the accurate definition of a minimum friction coefficient.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
pp. 02002
Author(s):  
Georgia Papastergiou ◽  
Ioannis Raftoyiannis

Cables are efficient structural elements that are used in cable-stayed bridges, suspension bridges and other cable structures. A significant problem which arose from the praxis is the cables’ rain-wind induced vibrations as these cables are subjected to environmental excitations. Rain-wind induced stay-cable vibrations may occur at different cable eigenfrequencies. Large amplitude Rain-Wind-Induced-Vibrations (RWIV) of stay cables are a challenging problem in the design of cable-stayed bridges. Several methods, including aerodynamic or structural means, have been investigated in order to control the vibrations of bridge’s stay-cables. The present research focuses on the effectiveness of a movable anchorage system with a Classical Rolling Pendulum Bearing (CRPB) device. An analytical model of cable-damper system is developed based on the taut string representation of the cable. The gathered integral-differential equations are solved through the use of the Lagrange transformation. . Finally, a case study with realistic geometrical parameters is also presented to establish the validity of the proposed system.


Author(s):  
Vadivel K. Sivashanmugam ◽  
Mohammad Arabnia ◽  
Wahid Ghaly

This paper presents a simple, effective and practical shape optimization approach for axial turbine stages so as to minimize the three-dimensional flow losses and simultaneously improve the turbine structural properties. The main objectives of the optimization are to maximize the stage efficiency and simultaneously minimize the von Mises stress while constraining the design mass flow rate and the blade first natural frequency. The stacking curve, which controls three-dimensional flow effects and the spanwise stress distribution is parametrically represented by a quadratic rational Bezier curve (QRBC). The parameters of this QRBC are related to the design variables namely the blade lean, sweep and bow. The optimization method combines a Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA), with a Response Surface Approximation (RSA) of the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) type. During the optimization process, each objective function and constraint is approximated by an individual ANN, which is trained and tested using an aerodynamic as well as a structure database composed of a few high fidelity flow simulations (CFD) and structure analysis (CSD) that are obtained using AN-SYS Workbench 2.0. This methodology was then applied to the aero-structural optimization of the E/TU-3 turbine stage at design conditions and proved quite successful, flexible and practical, and resulted in an 0.8% improvement in stage efficiency and about 50% reduction in the maximum von Mises stresses. This improvement was accomplished with as low as five design variables, which is remarkable considering the problem complexity.


Author(s):  
Ching-Kuo Hsiung ◽  
Mohamed E. M. El-Sayed

Abstract In this paper a two-level structural optimization approach is presented. At the first level, the objective of the optimization problem is to minimize the total weight of the whole structure subject to the global constraints. At the second level, the optimization problem is divided into several subproblems, each subproblem represents a substructure. The objective of each subproblem is to minimize the weight of the assigned substructure subject to its local constraints. To assure that the final solution will not violate the global constraints, the optimum values of the design variables from the first level are used to update the lower bounds on these variables at the second level. Two numerical examples are included to demonstrate the approach and its application in a multi-processor environment.


Author(s):  
Gonzalo Osborne ◽  
Frederic Saleh

<p>Signature Saint Laurent (SSLC) is the consortium comprised of SNC Lavalin, Flatiron Constructors Canada, Dragados USA and EBC, that selected the design and construction for the New Samuel de Champlain Bridge (NSCB) in Montreal, Canada.</p><p>The NSCB’s construction schedule was the major challenge for a successful project completion. The geometry of the main bridge is complex, with an asymmetric stay cable arrangement and a unique transverse behavior with three independent corridors connected by crossbeams, involving the location of the stay cable anchorages. This geometry questioned the constructability and the stringent schedule requirement. The subject of this paper is relevant to this conference as it pertains to an innovative construction method for cable-stayed bridges.</p><p>The back span was fully erected on temporary towers in advance, followed by the main span which was to be built with heavy lifting equipment in cantilever sequentially from the main single pylon towards to the East approach. A set of three gantries erected the preassembled segments from the ground to the tip of the deck, where they were connected to the previous segment.</p><p>To expedite the construction, an innovative method was developed to erect some segments from the opposite end with cranes from the ground, with a stick-built conventional method. The closure location was therefore shifted by 50 meters (four segments) towards the pylon. These segments would be supported with temporary stay cables anchored to a 36-meter high king-post on top of the deck. The king-post would be sitting on top of the deck, supported temporarily by shoring towers to reduce the demands in the superstructure and adjacent pier.</p><p>This erection system can serve as an alternative method to expedite construction for long span single tower cable stayed bridges, by erecting segments with a temporary stay tower from the opposite end, therefore reducing schedule constraints.</p>


2011 ◽  
Vol 295-297 ◽  
pp. 1230-1235
Author(s):  
Jiang Bo Sun ◽  
Zuo Zhou Zhao ◽  
Hong Hua Zhao

This paper presents several methods usually used for measuring cable tension in cable-stayed bridges, especially frequency vibration method. Taken two different length stay-cables under given tension forces in a real cable-stayed bridge as an example, different modeling methods in finite element methods (FEM) were used to solve their natural vibration frequencies. The results by FEM were compared with those from other available theoretical predicting method. It was found that FEM based on tightening string model is more suitable for a long stay-cable. For a short stay-cable under given tension force, beam bending stiffness can be ignored in predicting its first five natural frequencies using a hinged beam model in FEM. While the predicted lower frequency using clamped beam FEM model is more accurate and reasonable.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (20) ◽  
pp. 4469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seunghoo Jeong ◽  
Young-Joo Lee ◽  
Do Hyoung Shin ◽  
Sung-Han Sim

The number of cable-stayed bridges being built worldwide has been increasing owing to the increasing demand for long-span bridges. As the stay-cable is one of critical load-carrying members of cable-stayed bridges, its maintenance has become a significant issue. The stay-cable has an inherently low damping ratio with high flexibility, which makes it vulnerable to vibrations owing to wind, rain, and traffic. Excessive vibration of the stay-cable can cause long-term fatigue problems in the stay-cable as well as the cable-stayed bridge. Therefore, civil engineers are required to carry out maintenance measures on stay-cables as a high priority. For the maintenance of the stay-cables, an automated real-time serviceability assessment system using wireless smart sensors was developed in this study. When the displacement of the cable in the mid-span exceeds either the upper or the lower bound provided in most bridge design codes, it is considered as a serviceability failure. The system developed in this study features embedded on-board processing, including the measurement of acceleration, estimation of displacement from measured acceleration, serviceability assessment, and monitoring through wireless communication. A series of laboratory tests were carried out to verify the performance of the developed system.


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