Ultimate strength of light-rail hybrid cable-stayed bridge including concrete tension softening effect

Abstract

This paper presents the ultimate strength analysis of a light-rail hybrid cable-stayed bridge and discusses the influences of the concrete tension softening effect (CTSE) which is defined as the tensile strength of concrete being much less than the compressive strength of concrete. Both geometrical and material nonlinearities are considered. The bridge finite element model is established using the ANSYS package, and material nonlinearity is considered through the fiber beam element BEAM189. Also, an algorithm is written using the Fortran language for the uniaxial concrete constitutive model to consider the CTSE, namely the concrete smeared crack model. Results show that the CTSE significantly influences the ultimate strength of the investigated bridge when the side-span concrete girder dominates the failure of the bridge as estimated by calculations. Thus, it is essential to consider the CTSE for the evaluation of the ultimate strength of a light-rail hybrid cable-stayed bridge. Highlights: 1. The line finite element model of a light-rail hybrid cable-stayed bridge including concrete tension softening effect (CTSE) is established. 2. An algorithm is presented for considering the CTSE. 3. The CTSE can significantly influences the ultimate strength of the hybrid bridge.