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

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the ultimate strength of a light-rail hybrid cable-stayed bridge (CSB) and discusses the influences of the concrete tension softening effect (CTSE), which is defined as the tensile strength of concrete being much less than its compressive strength. Both geometrical and material non-linearities are considered. A finite-element model of the bridge was established using Ansys software, with material non-linearity considered through the fibre beam element Beam189. An algorithm was written using Fortran language for the uniaxial concrete constitutive model to consider the CTSE (i.e. the concrete smeared crack model). The results showed that the CTSE significantly influenced the ultimate strength of the investigated bridge when the side-span concrete girder dominates the failure of the bridge as estimated by calculations. It is essential to consider the CTSE for the evaluation of the ultimate strength of a light-rail hybrid CSB.