Influence of the sag-to-span ratio on the dynamic response of a long-span bridge suspended from floating towers under wave and wind loads

Abstract

ABSTRACT Long-span bridges suspended from floating towers are a promising design concept to cross the strait with deep water depth. This paper presents an alternative dynamic simulation framework for floating suspension bridge by integrating the calculations of wave, radiation and wind loads with common software and computing scripts, and verifies the numerical models, including structure, wave load, radiation and wind load. Bridge schemes with different sag-to-span ratios inspired by a prototype long-span floating bridge were proposed. Static, modal and dynamic analyses are conducted through the developed simulation framework to obtain the bridge response. The influence of the sag-to-span ratio on the dynamic response of a long-span bridge suspended from floating towers under wave and wind conditions was investigated. The results indicate that the natural period of the floating bridge decreases with the reduction in the sag-to-span ratio, and the sag-to-span ratio significantly affects the dynamic response of the example floating bridge.