MODELING OF A CABLE-STAYED BRIDGE FOR DYNAMIC ANALYSIS

The subject of dynamic response of cable-stayed bridges has received increasing attention in recent years as this type of bridge becomes ever more popular. In most publications on the dynamic behaviour of cable-stayed bridges, only cursory treatment is given to many of the details of the actual development of a suitable finite element model. This paper provides a detailed description of the development of one class of linear elastic finite element model for the dynamic analysis of a cable-stayed bridge. The bridge modelled in this study is the Quincy Bayview Bridge in Illinois. The translation of structural data into a form useful for formulation of a three-dimensional finite element model is presented in some detail, including evaluation of translational and rotational mass and stiffnesses for the deck, modelling of the towers and cables, modelling of the bearings and considerations for accurate geometric representation between the model and the full-scale structure. In a companion paper, the modal behaviour predicted by the finite element model is compared to measured ambient vibration properties of the full-scale structure.