Approximate method for estimation of collapse loads of steel cable-stayed bridges

Abstract

This paper proposes a new and simple method for estimating the collapse load of a steel cable-stayed bridge. A new convergence criterion for iterative eigenvalue computations is suggested to consider the beam-column effect of a cable-stayed bridge system. The collapse loads of two example bridges representing medium and long-span models are evaluated by the proposed method and compared to a nonlinear inelastic analysis. The results demonstrate that the proposed method is a good substitute for a complex nonlinear inelastic analysis to approximately evaluate the collapse loads as well as failure modes of steel cable-stayed bridges. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.