Novel Hanger Design to Improve the Robustness of Through Arch Bridges

Abstract

Hangers in through arch bridges are important components since they suspend the bridge deck from the arch ribs. Local damage at a hanger may lead to progressive damage of various components in the arch bridge or even progressive collapse of the bridge. In this paper, the conventional design of double-hangers in through arch bridges is reviewed. Then a new approach to design the double-hangers is put forward. The suitability and robustness of this approach is then verified by a numerical simulation of a real through arch bridge. The impact effects induced by local hanger fracture on other structural members are simulated by dynamic time-history analyses. The new approach to design the hangers for through arch bridges is shown to improve the structural robustness. With the application of the new way put forward here, when one or more hangers are damaged to fail, the through arch bridge will not be endangered and will still maintain the overall load-bearing capacity during an appropriate length of time to allow necessary emergency measures to be taken, which illustrates the leading principle of structural robustness well.