In order to present the collapse process and failure mechanism of long-span cable-stayed bridges under strong seismic excitations, a rail-cum-road steel truss cable-stayed bridge was selected as engineering background, the collapse failure numerical model of the cable-stayed bridge was established based on the explicit dynamic finite element method (FEM), and the whole collapse process of the cable-stayed bridge was analyzed and studied with three different seismic waves acted in the horizontal longitudinal direction, respectively. It can be found from the numerical simulation analysis that the whole collapse failure process and failure modes of the cable-stayed bridge under three different seismic waves are similar. Furthermore, the piers and the main pylons are critical components contributing to the collapse of the cable-stayed bridge structure. However, the cables and the main girder are damaged owing to the failure of piers and main pylons during the whole structure collapse process, so the failure of cable and main girder components is not the main reason for the collapse of cable-stayed bridge. The analysis results can provide theoretical basis for collapse resistance design and the determination of critical damage components of long-span highway and railway cable-stayed bridges in the research of seismic vulnerability analysis.
Coastal bridges are exposed to hurricane waves and storm surges during hurricanes, which threaten the safety of the superstructures. Since waves and ocean currents coexist in the natural marine environment and the action of currents leads to changes in wave parameters and thus affects wave loads, considering their interaction is necessary for the study of wave forces on coastal bridges. In this study, hydrodynamic loads on a box girder with the joint action of regular waves and currents are investigated with both experiments and numerical models. A series of experiments of wave forces that include conditions with different wave heights, current velocities, wave periods and submergence depths are conducted in a wave flume. Two-dimensional numerical simulations are performed to further investigate the mechanics of wave-current forces on box girder bridges. The wave parameters and wave forces of the numerical simulations are compared with the experimental results. The results indicate that a following current usually leads to higher maximum horizontal forces and lower maximum vertical forces. The opposing current results in a higher maximum hydrodynamic vertical force than following current with a low submergence depth. However, due to the joint effect of the wave parameters and structure position relationships, the behaviours of wave forces in other situations become complicated. It is anticipated that this study can provide experimental data of wave-current forces for the superstructures of box girder bridges and enhance the understanding of the mechanism of bridge damage by waves and currents.
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