Abstract
The design scheme of a suspension bridge with a super-long-span of 3300 m was taken as an example, and calculating results from 3 mechanics models are compared with each other to study the effects of bending stiffness of cables on stress distribution and curve shape in super-long single suspension cable structures on the basis of the Finite Element Method (FEM) algorithm of ANSYS and the analytical segmental catenary method for cables’ shape-finding. The study shows that the influence of bending stiffness on curve shape-finding of cables is negligible; Although its effects on stress distribution in cross sections of main cables due to dead loads is small, the error of horizontal forces probably results in great one for the calculation of bending moments at the bottom cross-sections of bridge pylons, which needs attention to ensure the structural safety.
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