Free Vibration Analysis of Cable Stayed-Bridge by Finite Element Method

Abstract

A delicate analysis of the natural frequencies and mode shapes of a cable stayed bridge is essential to the solution of its dynamic responses due to seismic, wind and traffic loads. In this paper, a bridge with geometry comparable to the Quincy Bayview Bridge was modelled in order to explore the significance of the three dimensional and free vibration analysis. This paper provides a detail of the bridge and the equivalent cross section of the three-dimensional finite element model implicating cables, the bridge deck and pylons as well as the boundary conditions and free vibration analysis by Ansys15.0. The bridge was analyzed to free vibration to obtaine the natural frequency and mode shape. result of this paper present the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the bridge. The method of modelling cables is also studied. It is found that modelling cables as multi beam elements provides better results than using the traditional (and simpler) method of modeling them as single tensile elements.