Investigation of torsion angle measurement method in spatial cables of suspension bridges

Abstract

Spatial cables in suspension bridges may twist between two adjacent suspension points due to transverse tension. To determine the spatial torsion angle of the cables, a scale-reduced suspender bridge model was fabricated and tested in this study. The cable torsion angles of the bridge model under different loading cases were obtained and presented. Theoretical methods (e.g., the coordinate method and the angle method) to calculate the spatial cable torsion angle in the suspender bridge were developed by analyzing the deforming characteristics of the suspender cables. The feasibility and predictive accuracy of the proposed methods were assessed using the experimental results. Results show that the proposed coordinate and angle methods produced similar torsion angles for the main cables, showing a maximum relative error of 10.4 %. Compared to the coordinate method's complex data transformation and measurement procedures, the angle method is more convenient, efficient, and easier to calculate the torsion angle of the main cable. Despite the capability of calculating the spatial cable torsion angles, the coordinate method also exhibits advanced capability in determining the geometric curves of the main cable under different spatial angles.