THE UNIT LOAD METHOD -SOME RECENT APPLICATIONS

摘要

The Unit Load Method has originally been proposed as a procedure to optimise the tensioning process for the stay-cables in cable-stayed bridges and has been implemented in a well-established bridge-design software package for this purpose. The implementation of this method takes into account all relevant effects for the design of cable stayed bridges including construction sequence, second order theory, large displacements, cable sag and time-dependent effects such as creep and shrinkage or cable relaxation. The underlying ideas of this method can also be applied to other optimisation problems in structural engineering. This paper gives an overview about the wide range of possible applications for which this method can be used and finishes with examples from practical experiences with the Unit Load Method.