Abstract
The hangers of suspension bridges can be placed in two forms: vertical or inclined form. Inclined hangers are more liable to fatigue. Vertical hangers are subjected to greater fluctuations of stress resulting from bridge wind loads. To improve aerodynamic stability, inclined hangers can be used instead of vertical ones. Some inclined hangers show considerable signs of distress and some of them show slackness due to their location against loads. In this paper a pedestrian suspension bridge with vertical hangers has been studied as a case study. Then, the same bridge has been studied with inclined hangers. To reduce internal forces, fatigue and slackness in hangers, horizontal cables have been added to inclined hangers. This modification is proposed by the present authors. The added horizontal cables transfer the tensile load from overstressed hangers to adjacent slacked hangers. Three different hanger patterns have been analyzed under nonlinear static analysis for symmetrical and nonsymmetrical live load plus dead load. Results showed that the modified hanger system had been improved considerably in comparison with vertical or inclined hangers and wherever that there is no improvement some solutions have been proposed.
Highlights
Suspension bridges are among the structures that can be constructed over long spans, and due to the high accuracy, performance, computing and control system after implementation, they are safe to use [1]
To reduce internal forces, fatigue and slackness in hangers, horizontal cables have been added to inclined hangers
To remove slackness and overstress in the inclined hangers, excessive forces should be transferred from overstressed hangers to the adjacent slacked hangers
Summary
Suspension bridges are among the structures that can be constructed over long spans, and due to the high accuracy, performance, computing and control system after implementation, they are safe to use [1]. Inclined hangers due to slacking under excessive tension forces and due to early fatigue—in comparison with vertical hangers—require modification in their systems to achieve optimum system In this way the damping role is achieved and excessive tensile stresses are reduced and slack problems are eliminated [2]. Wu, Takahasi and Nakamura [5] investigated the effect of slacked cables on nonlinear parametric vibrations of inclined cables under their support periodic (cycle) stimulations. They considered bending rigidity and damping in equilibrium equations to solve diverging problem during slackness.
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