SEISMIC ENERGY-DISSIPATION FOR CABLE-STAYED BRIDGES USING PASSIVE DEVICES

This study assesses analytically the effectiveness, feasibility and limitations of elastic and hysteretic damping augmentation devices, such as elastomeric and lead-rubber bearings, with respect to the dynamic and seismic performance of cable-stayed bridges. This type of bridge, which has relatively greater flexibility, is more susceptible to undesirable vibrations due to service and environmental loadings than are conventional bridges. Therefore, damping is a very important property. Supplementary damping devices based on the plastic deformation of lead and steel are proposed at critical zones, such as the deck-abutment and deck-tower connections, to concentrate hysteretic behaviour in these specially designed energy absorbers. Inelastic behaviour in primary structural elements of the bridge can therefore be avoided, assuring the serviceability of these cable-supported bridges. Analytically, three-dimensional modelling is developed for the bridge and the damping devices, including the bridge geometrical large-displacement non-linearity and the local material and geometric non-linearities of the energy dissipation devices. The effects of various modelling and design parameters of the bridge response are also studied, including the properties, modelling accuracy and location of the devices along the bridge superstructure. It is shown that an optimum model of the seismic performance of the bridges with these passive control devices can be obtained by balancing the reduction in forces along the bridge against tolerable displacements. Appropriate locations and hysteretic energy dissipation properties of the devices can achieve a significant reduction in seismic-induced forces, as compared to the case with no dampers added, and relatively better control of displacements. In addition, proper selection of the location of the passive control systems can help redistribute forces along the structure which may provide solutions for retrofitting some existing bridges. However, caution should be exercised in simulating the device response for a reliable bridge structural performance. Moreover, while seismic response of the bridge can be significantly improved with added dampers, their degree of effectiveness also depends on the energy absorption characteristics of the dampers.