RASHTREEYA SIKSHANA SAMITHI TRUST

R.V.COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
BANGALORE 560 059

(An Autonomous Institution affiliated to VTU, Belgaum)

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
ASSIGNMENT
TOPIC: Preliminary static analysis of suspension bridges

COURSE: FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

COURSE CODE: 12ME71
NAME OF THE STUDENT (IN CAPS)
SUMIT KUMAR

SEMESTER: VII
SECTION: C
TOTAL

USN
1RV12ME104

10

: 10 MARKS

1. Introduction
Suspension bridges are designed today
by making

extensive use of discretisation methods

of analysis (i.e. the finite element
method). Examples of application of
these methods to the analysis of
suspension bridges, both in the static
and dynamic fields, include the works of
Chaudhury and Brotton [1], Jennings and
Mairs [2], Abdel-Ghaffar [3] and
Arzoumanidis and Bienek [4].
These methods normally lead to analysis
with a large number of variables
involved, difficult to verify and that tend
to obscure the influence of key
parameters on the overall behaviour of
the bridge.
In contrast, the majority of the existing
long span suspension bridges were
correctly designed (when making use of
the so-called deflection theory) before
the computer era. A historical review of
the approximate methods that lead to
the deflection theory can be found
elsewhere [5,6].
The well-established deflection theory
[68], by solving the differential
equilibrium equations in the deformed
position, correctly accounts for the
stiffening effect of the tension force in
the cable. Although analytical
expressions for some loading cases
exist, their use is often cumbersome [8].
Furthermore, with basic references out
of print, the direct use of the deflection
theory appears to be too antiquated to
offer a useful check to results from
numerical analysis.
In this paper, numerical methods are
applied to solve the dimensionless
analytical equations of the deflection
theory [9] and to perform parametrical
studies that can be helpful in the
understanding of the static behavior of
suspension bridges. Dimensionless
charts that include displacements and

bending moments under concentrated

loading and maximum displacements
and bending moments under distributed
loading are presented for single-span
suspension bridges. Based on these
charts, approximate formulae useful for
design are given and trends in the static
behaviour of suspension bridges are
readily explained. Extension to the
analysis of three span suspension
bridges is performed. The accuracy of
this extension is checked by presenting
the results obtained

from a number of existing and

hypothetical three span suspension
bridges.
Whereas this load may correspond to
the live load
actually considered in the design of
some of these
bridges (for the George Washington
Bridge and the Golden Gate, 4000
lb/ft_59 kN/m were considered (Ammann
et al. [13, p. 77])), in other bridges the
actual design live load may be very
different. For example, for the Tacoma
Narrows bridge the design live load was
1500 lb/ft_22 kN/m; the Severn and the
Humber have only four lanes; the
Akashi-Kaykio is designed also for
railway loading. These should be
considered when comparing the results
between different bridges.
The results are calculated assuming that
the boundary conditions for each bridge
are as in Fig. . This is clearly different
both in the real Tagus Bridge where a
clamp exists between the cable and the
stiffening truss at midspan and in the
Great Belt Bridge, which is designed
with a continuous girder in a manner