Cross-sectional Stress Distribution of Damaged Suspenders in Arch Bridges

摘要

The structural behaviour and the non-uniform cross-sectional stress distribution of damagedsuspenders in arch bridges are studied in this paper. It is assumed that the suspenders are fixed at theconnections with the ribs and the deck. Based on field measurements, the temperature distributionaround a suspender is obtained, and a cross-sectional temperature distribution model is suggested.The static and dynamic stresses of damaged suspenders from different sources are identified bynumerical analysis. The influences of vehicle speed, vehicle frequency, driving frequency with shift,etc., are examined as well. Moreover, this paper investigates the stress condition for each wire in ashort suspender with various levels of damage. The comprehensive simulation of the cross-sectionalstress distribution of damaged suspenders may be helpful to the maintenance and safety of thehangers and the arch bridges during their service life.