Numerical analysis of the Nanjing Dashengguan Yangtze River Bridge subjected to non-uniform seismic excitations

Abstract

The Nanjing Dashengguan Yangtze River Bridge is a 108 + 192 + 336 + 336 + 192 + 108 m six-span continuous trussed-arch bridge on the Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway. As a feature of the long span structure, the response of the main bridge considering the traveling earthquake wave effect should be calculated. Thus, a finite element method (FEM) model is established. The natural frequencies and mode shapes are acquired by the eigen-parameter analysis. By inputting the El Centro earthquake accelerations to the bridge system in association with the Ex+0.3Ey+0.3Ez and 0.3Ex+Ey+0.3Ez components according to the Europe Code, the dynamic responses of the bridge, including the displacement and accelerations of the main nodes of the structure as well as the seismic forces of the key members, are calculated by the structural analysis program. Based on these responses, the main laws of the seismic responses of the bridge are summarized, and the safety of the structure is evaluated. The displacement and the internal force response of the main bridge excited by the El Centro earthquake, with the traveling speed of 300, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 m/s, respectively, are compared with the final results obtained by the spectrum analysis and the common time history analysis.