Elastic-Plastic Time History Analysis of Self-Anchored Cable-Stayed Suspension Bridge

Base on the elastic-plastic analytical theory, an elastic-plastic time-history analysis of self-anchored cable-stayed suspension bridge, which engineering background is Dalian Gulf Cross-sea Bridge program, is performed by using general finite element software Midas/Civil. The material nonlinearity of structure is considered with reinforcement concrete fiber model, and distributed hinge type is adopted to simulate for plastic hinge. Compared with the results of an elastic time-history analysis, it is shown that for the structure into the elastic-plastic stage, because of the production of plastic hinge, the input seismic energy is dissipated partially, and the internal forces of structural elements are reduced. The bending moments and axial forces occur mainly in the main tower root. Furthermore, the rotation properties of the plastic hinge causes displacement increasing of certain parts of the structure, which assumes mainly the vertical displacement present on the top of main tower and the main beam. In conclusion, it is proposed that caging devices are set in the design.