Modeling and parameter analysis of in-plane dynamics of a suspension bridge with transfer matrix method

Abstract

In this paper, the model of a suspension bridge is composed of the main cable and beam with many discrete springs, which are used to model columns between the main cable and the deck. Based on Hamilton’s variational principle, the governing equations for the in-plane dynamics of the model are obtained. The static and dynamic configuration of the beam and cable is considered in the derivation of governing equations in this paper. The boundary and continuity conditions of the subsystems (cable and beam) and the transfer matrix method are utilized to determine the only six unknown non-dimensional constants of the system. Then, the in-plane eigenvalue problem can be solved easily, and the effects of the parameters on the in-plane natural frequencies and mode shapes are systematically investigated. Finally, the results obtained by the proposed model and method are compared with those obtained by the finite element method, which shows that the proposed method applied to analyze the suspension bridge is efficient.