Experimental Study on Prefabricated Parallel Wire Strands for Main Cables in Suspension Bridges

摘要

This paper discusses the mechanical behaviour of parallel wire strands with high performance steelrnwires, which have the tensile strength of 1960MPa grade, as a major component of the main cablesrnin suspension bridges. Required items for performance and quality of parallel wire strands arernsuggested based on the established references. Proposed performance indexes include the elasticrnmodulus, elongation at failure and pull-out lengths as well as the failure load of strands. Fourrnspecimens of parallel wire strands with their length of 4.5m are prepared by hand-made works.rnUltimate tensile strength tests are carried out for the specimens in order to analyze the mechanicalrnbehaviour of high performance parallel wire strands. The test results demonstrate that the propertiesrnof test specimens are satisfied with performance indexes specified in this paper. The highrnperformance parallel wire strands are acceptable for application in main cables of suspensionrnbridges.