Bridge Engineering

Volume 165 Issue BE4

The response of Karnali Bridge, Nepal to
near-fault earthquakes
Shrestha and Tuladhar

ice | proceedings

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers

Bridge Engineering 165 December 2012 Issue BE4
Pages 223232 http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/bren.9.00037
Paper 900037
Received 02/10/2009
Accepted 27/07/2011
Keywords: bridges/dynamics/seismic engineering

ICE Publishing: All rights reserved

The response of Karnali Bridge,

Nepal to near-fault earthquakes
1
&

Bipin Shrestha MSc

Structural Engineer, EWES, Kathmandu, Nepal

2
&

Roshan Tuladhar PhD

Hydraulic Structure Specialist, TEAM Group, Bangkok, Thailand

Seismic records during recent destructive earthquakes such as Northridge (1994), Kobe (1995), Duzce (1999) and ChiChi (1999) revealed peculiarities of ground motion near active faults. Those earthquakes indicated that the vertical
acceleration can reach values comparable to horizontal acceleration or may even exceed these accelerations. The
unique high amplitude and short to medium duration pulse caused due to the forward directivity was another typical
feature of near-field ground motion, which caused significant damage to transportation structure. In this study the
relative importance of the vertical ground motion on the response of Karnali cable-stayed bridge, which is situated
near an active fault in Nepal, is investigated. This study also tries to identify the effect of the velocity pulses on the
response of a steel tower of the cable-stayed bridge. The results indicate that the vertical ground motion will have a
minor effect on the axial response of the cable and tower of the cable-stayed bridge. The study identified that
forward directivity ground motion could have a damaging effect when velocity pulses are tuned with the natural
period of the steel tower of the bridge.

1.

Introduction

The enormous destructive potential of the near-field ground

motion was manifested in Northridge 1994 (6?7 Mw), Kobe 1995
(6?9 Mw), Duzce 1999 (7?4 Mw) and Chi-Chi 1999 (7?6 Mw).
These earthquakes produced high intensity ground motion,
which was peculiar compared with the more conventional farfield ground motion. These ground motions caused extensive
damage to the bridge structures that are critical lifeline facilities
and an integral part of the national highway system. They should
have remained functional without major damage after an
earthquake to facilitate the rescue and relief operation. From
the severe experience of damage, most of the existing bridges in
Japan and the USA have been or are being retrofitted based on
the new design codes revised after the earthquake. However, in
the case of long span bridges, like cable-stayed bridges, various
discussions are ongoing on how the dynamic responses of bridges
are induced by near-fault motion.
In the analysis and design of earthquake-resistant structures,
and particularly bridge structures, the vertical ground motion
component tends, in general, to be ignored or underestimated
in current seismic structural analysis. It is noted that most of
the damage is due to the horizontal component, and that the

vertical acceleration is small. The current seismic codes

recommend a vertical spectrum with values that vary from
half to two-thirds that of the horizontal spectra. This approach
seems to be unconservative in light of the measurements of
ground motion during recent earthquakes, which indicate that
vertical acceleration could reach values even higher than those
of horizontal acceleration. Moreover, in a near-fault region,
the peak of vertical to horizontal (V/H) spectral ratio is even
larger than the ratio of the peak ground accelerations (PGA),
especially over short periods (Bozorgnia et al., 1995; Xinle
et al., 2007). Also field observations have proved that many
structures and bridges experienced significant damage attributable to high vertical forces (Papazoglou and Elnashai, 1996).
At present, some investigations are being carried out on the
vertical response of traditional highway bridges (Kunnath
et al., 2008; Saadeghavaziri and Foutch, 1991), but specific
studies on cable-stayed bridges are non-existent (Valdebenito
and Aparicio, 2006).
Generally, high frequency containing vertical ground motions
attenuate more rapidly than horizontal motions and vertical
motions are evident in a near-fault earthquake. It has been
observed that the V/H PGA ratio tends to assume higher
223

Bridge Engineering
Volume 165 Issue BE4

The response of Karnali Bridge,

Nepal to near-fault earthquakes
Shrestha and Tuladhar

values in the near fault and decreases as the epicentre distance

increases. Vertical components may be more dangerous as its
predominant frequencies may be close to the vertical frequencies of free vibration of many structures. There are many
records of instrumented structures, especially from Northridge
1994 and Kobe 1995, which show higher amplification of
vertical ground motion (Papazoglou and Elnashai, 1996). In
this research, an effort is made to understand the detrimental
effects of vertical acceleration relative to the horizontal ground
motion on the long span cable-stayed Karnali Bridge, which is
the lifeline structure connecting the western part of Nepal by
means of land links.

2.

Modelling of the bridge

2.1

Description of the bridge

The unique high amplitude and short to medium duration

velocity pulse that is a common characteristic of near-fault
ground motions has generated attention due to the severity of
damage these motions have caused in densely populated urban
environments. Measured records have shown that the direction
of fault rupture along with proximity to the fault line can have
a considerable influence on the ground velocities, which are
commonly termed the forward directivity effect. Due to the
radiation pattern of the fault, these pulses are typically aligned
with the normal direction of the fault. However, strong pulses
may also be present in the parallel direction to the fault (Bray
and Rodriguez-Marek, 2004). These motions typically have a
short to medium duration with amplitudes larger than those of
generic motions, and with a strong preferential fault-normal
orientation. Ground motions having such a distinct pulse-like
character arise in general at the beginning of the seismogram,
and their effects tend to increase during the long portion of the
acceleration response spectrum (Galesorkhi and Gouchon,
2000). These types of ground motions may generate high
demands that force the structures to dissipate this input energy
with few large displacement excursions. Consequently, the risk
of brittle failure for poorly detailed systems is considerably
enhanced (Manfredi et al., 2000). As a number of near-fault
ground motions have been recorded in recent years, the effects
of these motions on structures are not clearly understood. Past
researchers have dealt with the response of reinforced concrete
bridge columns analytically (Rodriguez-Marek and Cofer,
2007) and experimentally (Orozoco and Ashford, 2003), but
specific studies on cable-stayed bridges are lacking.
Failures of modern engineered structures observed within the
near-fault region in the 1994 Northridge and the 1995 Kobe
earthquakes revealed the vulnerability of long period structure
(bridges and buildings) against pulse-type ground motions. In
addition, strong directivity effects during the 1999 Kocaeli,
Duzce and Chi-Chi earthquakes renewed attention on the
consequences of near-fault ground motions on structures. An
attempt has been made here to compare the response of the
steel tower of the cable-stayed bridge to forward directivity
ground motion (FDGM) with the ordinary ground motion.
224

The Karnali Bridge is the first, and to date, the only cablestayed bridge in Nepal. The bridge site is located approximately 500 km west of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The
Karnali Bridge is a key structure connecting the western Tarei
plains of Nepal with the rest of the country. Moreover, it also
serves as an important link to reach many western mountains
in the country. Currently, it is the 91st largest cable-stayed
bridge in the world, with a main span of 325 m. The bridge site
is situated close to the Siwalik fault. The proximity of the fault
from the bridge site is found to be between 4?8 and 8 km.
The bridge has a single tower and two spans consisting of a
main span of 325 m and a side span of 175 m. The cables are
arranged in two vertical planes with 30 cables in each plane. A
modified fan configuration has been adopted for the cables.
The stay cables are made of polyethylene-sheathed strands
composed of 7-mm diameter galvanised wires. A composite
girder, consisting of a 228-mm thick concrete slab over a 3 m
deep steel truss, has been used. The tower consists of a stiffened
hollow steel section with a height of 120 m above the bridge
deck. The roadway is 11?3 m wide, with two traffic lanes. A
photograph of Karnali bridge is shown in Figure 1.
The Karnali cable-stayed bridge was designed by Steinman
Boynton Gronquist and Birdsall, New York, USA, and the
construction was completed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries of
Japan in 1993.

2.2

Finite element model of the bridge

A finite element model (FEM) of the Karnali cable-stayed

bridge was developed using the SAP2000 structural analysis
software, as shown in Figure 2. The bridge was modelled based
on the geometries and material data from the as-built
drawings. The FEM employed frame elements for steel girders,
floor beams and the centre strut connecting two adjacent floor
beams. The main components of the bridge towers and pier
were represented by non-prismatic frame elements. The 228mm thick concrete slab supported by the steel girders was

Figure 1. Photograph of the Karnali Bridge

Bridge Engineering
Volume 165 Issue BE4

C1 C3

The response of Karnali Bridge,

Nepal to near-fault earthquakes
Shrestha and Tuladhar

C15

325 m

C20

C26
C23

bridge the response of the structure to ground motion

containing the velocity pulses was compared with the remaining three ground motions. Figure 3 shows the response spectra
of the selected ground motions where the spectra of the
FDGM are presented as a bold line.

175 m

3.1
Figure 2. SAP 2000 FEM image of Karnali cable-stayed bridge

modelled with shell elements. Cables were modelled using a

straight chord element. Sagging of the inclined cables was
considered using the equivalent modulus of elasticity as
suggested by Ernst (1965):
1.

Eeq ~

E
(wl)2 AE
1z
12T3

where Eeq 5 equivalent elastic modulus of inclined cable, E 5

cable material elastic modulus, l 5 horizontal projected length
of the cable, w 5 weight per unit length of the cable, T 5
tension at dead load.
A full three-dimensional model was then developed using 1005
joints, 2006 frame elements, 495 shell elements, two rigid links
and four solid elements for a total of 5995 degrees of freedom.

3.

Input ground motions

For time history simulation five strong near-fault ground

motions with varying V/H ratios of PGA were selected as
shown in Table 1. All time histories were recorded within
15 km of the fault. During the selection, adequate care was
taken so that the horizontal acceleration of all the selected
ground motion represented the same levels of shaking in terms
of PGA, whereas the vertical acceleration varies largely as
shown in Table 1. The intention behind such selections was to
quantify the effect of different levels of vertical acceleration
and velocity pulses within the similar range of horizontal PGA.
Two out of the selected five ground motions (JR Takatori and
Loma Prieta) contain the directivity effects (pulse-like velocity
waves). To determine the effect of the velocity pulses on the
No.
1
2
3
4
5

Event

Mw

Gazli, Uzbekistan, 1976

Loma Prieta, USA, 1989
Landers, USA, 1992
Kobe, Japan, 1995
Kobe, Japan, 1995

6?8
6?9
7?3
6?9
6?9

Station
Karakyr
LGPC
Landers
Nishi-Akashi
JR Takatori

Velocity pulse period of FDGM

Figure 4 illustrates the velocity time history of the fault normal

direction of Loma Prieta and JR Takatori, respectively. The
velocity pulse period for Loma Prieta and JR Takatori is found
to be 2?56 s and 1?5 s, respectively. Although consisting of only
a few cycles, the pulses can impose large inelastic drift on
structures, resulting in significant permanent deformations.

4.

Numerical analysis

4.1

Initial equilibrium configuration

The initial equilibrium condition of cable-stayed bridges is the

equilibrium condition due to dead load and tension forces in
the cables. The subsequent modal analysis and non-linear time
history analysis should start by considering the dead load
deformed equilibrium condition.
In this study, the dead load deformed equilibrium condition of the
FEM and the final displacement of the deck should be identical to
the as-built drawing of the bridge. This was realised in the FEM
by manipulating the initial tension force in each stay cable
element. The design cable tensions were first applied to each cable
and the static non-linear analysis under dead load is carried out to
compare the calculated deck alignment with the measured deck
alignment (Figure 5). The cable tensions were then adjusted until
the best match was achieved. Achieving the deformed equilibrium
configuration due to dead load was one of the most difficult tasks
and involved a great deal of trial and error.

4.2

Natural vibration analysis

Modal analysis of the cable-stayed bridge was performed to

determine the natural response. Four different types of modes
were observed: deck lateral bending and torsion modes; deck
vertical bending mode; cable local modes and tower and pier
dominated modes. The fundamental period of the bridge was
calculated to be 3?736 s and was deck transverse (lateral
bending) mode. The fundamental period of the steel tower was
PGA-X (g)

PGA-Y (g)

PGA-Z (g)

V/H

0?71
0?56
0?68
0?51
0?61

0?63
0?61
0?7
0?5
0?61

1?34
0?89
0?66
0?37
0?24

1?89
1?47
0?94
0?73
0?39

Table 1. Ground motion considered for the seismic study

225

Bridge Engineering
Volume 165 Issue BE4

The response of Karnali Bridge,

Nepal to near-fault earthquakes
Shrestha and Tuladhar

Spectral acceleration: g

Gazli
3

Loma Prieta

Landers
2

Nishi-Akashi

JR Takatori
1

0
0

2
Period: s

0
0

2
Period: s

2
Period: s

Figure 3. Response spectra of selected ground motion:

longitudinal, transverse and vertical, respectively, from left

found to be 1?66 s in the lateral direction. Six hundred natural

modes up to 50?80 Hz were calculated and were sufficient to
represent more than 90% of modal mass participation in
horizontal directions. However, the modal mass participation
in the vertical direction was just below 90%. The fundamental
period of each stay cable was calculated using multicable
element discretisation and verified with the analytical equation
given by Ren and Peng (2005).

4.3

Seismic response analysis

4.3.1 Damping and numerical integration scheme

In this study the effective viscous damping of the overall
system is assumed to be 3% at the period of 0?1 s and at 3?75 s.
Newmarks step-by-step integration method was used for the
integration of the equation of motion. Newmarks b constant
acceleration scheme for the solution of the differential equation
of motion was considered in this study, with b equal to 0?25

and the second numerical parameter c set as 0?5 to avoid

superfluous damping and period elongation in the system.
4.3.2 Seismic response simulation
A series of linear modal time-history analyses were carried out
on the bridge to investigate the effect of vertical acceleration on
the behavior of the structure. The analyses were carried out for
the five ground motions. The relevance of the linear modal
time-history was verified by comparing the results with a fully
geometrically non-linear direct integration analysis that
includes the consideration of large displacements. Similar
types of cable-stayed bridges did not require consideration of
large displacements to obtain accurate results (Nazmy and
Abdel Ghaffar, 1990; Ren and Obata, 1999).
For the non-linear time-history analysis the ground motion of
Gazli, Uzbekistan, 1976 (with three ground motion components)

Velocity: cm/s

100
Velocity pulse

50
0
-50
0

Velocity: cm/s

100

10

12
Time: s

16

14

18

20

22

24

Velocity pulse

50
0
-50

-100
0

10

15

Figure 4. Velocity time history of Loma Prieta (PGV 94?72 cm/s,

pulse period 2?56 s) and JR Takatori (PGV 127?19 cm/s, pulse
period 1?5 s), respectively, from top

226

20
Time: s

25

30

35

40

Level: m

Bridge Engineering
Volume 165 Issue BE4

The response of Karnali Bridge,

Nepal to near-fault earthquakes
Shrestha and Tuladhar

4.4

Deck alignment

98.5
97.5
96.5
95.5
94.5
93.5

Tower
As built deck alignment
Calculated alignment
0

50

100

150

200

250

300 350

400

450 500

Span: m

Figure 5. Comparison of deck alignment (as built against

calculated)

was selected. Table 2 presents the comparison of the

response of the bridge to two cases of analysis. The nonlinear large displacement time-history analysis case takes
into account the stressed condition due to the dead load
before the seismic loading, whereas the linear modal timehistory neglects this condition. Table 2 uses the difference
between max and min (delta) for the comparison. The linear
modal time-history analysis could satisfactorily produce the
results with adequate accuracy not exceeding 18?8% difference for all the response parameters listed in Table 2.
Therefore, accounting for large displacement non-linearity
was not done in this study.

Effects of vertical component of ground motion

The simulations were carried out in two stages for the ground
motion mentioned in Table 1. In the first stage the bridge was
subjected to only the horizontal accelerations (H). In the
second stage combined horizontal and vertical (H + V)
components of the near-fault ground motion were applied to
evaluate the effect of vertical ground motion on this bridge.
For the simulation, linear modal time-history analysis was
adopted. The study concentrated on the axial response of the
selected cables as shown numbered in Figure 2 and the tower
of the cable-stayed bridge.
For the study of the influence of the vertical acceleration on the
response of the selected elements, the ratio of axial force with
and without vertical acceleration, defined as the amplification
factor (AF) was used, in which dead load is not considered.
The cables and tower of the cable-stayed bridge are in
prestressed condition due to the dead load. The linear modal
analysis does not start from the dead load prestressed
condition; it only represents the loading due to ground
excitation. The load at the final stage (i.e. the loading due to
the dead load combined with the seismic loading) is of prime
interest for evaluating the structural performance, thus the
combination of dead load and seismic loading was considered.

Linear modal time-history

Non-linear time-history

Max

Min

Delta

Max

Min

Delta

Percentage
difference in
delta (%)

0?217
0?547
0?017

20?227
20?567
20?021

0?444
1?114
0?038

0?274
0?545
20?009

20?139
20?559
20?041

0?413
1.104
0?032

7?5
0?9
18?8

0?061
0?786
0?371

20?08
20?745
20?549

0?141
1?531
0?92

0?095
0?746
0?386

20?032
20?74
20?484

0?127
1?486
0?87

11?0
3?0
5?7

83 014
79 050
1756
29 590

2103 456
282 470
22275
234 240

186 470
161 520
4031
63 830

96 524
80 514
1796
29750

2102 256
282 548
22289
276 580

198 780
163 062
4085
66 830

6?2
0?9
1?3
4?5

604
458
889

2450
2624
2764

1054
1082
1653

4480
1489
2156

3451
389
401

1029
1100
1755

2?4
1?6
5?8

Description

Displacement at top of tower

Longitudinal (m)
Transverse (m)
Vertical (m)
Deck displacement at centre
of main span
Longitudinal (m)
Transverse (m)
Vertical (m)
Bending moment at tower base
About longitudinal axis (kNm)
About transverse axis (kNm)
Torsional moment (kNm)
Tower axial load (kN)
Cable tension
Cable C1 (kN)
Cable C15 (kN)
Cable C20 (kN)
(Refer to Figure 2 for C1, C15 and C20)

Table 2. Comparison of linear modal result with non-linear large

displacement analysis

227

Bridge Engineering
Volume 165 Issue BE4

The response of Karnali Bridge,

Nepal to near-fault earthquakes
Shrestha and Tuladhar

Element

Cable 1

Cable 3

Cable 15

Cable 20

Cable 23

Cable 26

Ground motion

Main span

Main span

Main span

Side span

Side span

Side span

Takatori
Nishi-Akashi
Loma Prieta
Gazli
Landers

0?99
0?97
1?04
1?01
1?42

0?99
1?01
1?15
1?44
3?69

1?22
1?16
1?01
1?38
3?06

1?06
1?08
1?15
1?5
3?37

1?1
1?07
0?99
1?32
3?98

1?05
1?03
1?06
1?84
6?89

Frame 878
Tower
1?06
0?97
1?18
1?12
2

Table 3. Amplification factor for selected cables and tower

The ratio of axial load (combined dead load and seismic

loading) at the cables and towers with and without vertical
ground motion is defined as the final amplification factor
(FAF) for axial load.
For extreme values of time history analyses the amplification
factor is defined as:
2.

AF~

RSP(HzV)
RSP(H)

highest for all the elements under study. Table 3 also indicates
that due to the influence of the vertical ground motion the axial
force may even drop slightly. Table 4 summarises the FAF for
different elements to the subjected ground motion. Table 4
shows that for Landers ground motion, the final increase in the
cable tension is as high as 38%, whereas for the tower it is only
19%. Table 4 also suggests that due to the combined
application of horizontal and vertical ground motion, maximum tension in the cables may even drop slightly.

4.5
where RSP(H + V) 5 axial force (maxima-minima) for case
(H + V), RSP(H) 5 axial force (maxima-minima) for case (H).
For extreme values of time history analyses (including the dead
load prestressed loading) the final amplification factor is defined as:
3.

DLzRSP(HzV)
FAF~
DLzRSP(H)

where DL + RSP(H + V) 5 axial force (maxima) for case

(H + V) plus dead load DL + RSP(H) 5 axial force (maxima)
for case (H) plus dead load.
Tables 3 and 4 show the AF and FAF for the selected elements
of the Karnali cable-stayed bridge. Results indicate that for the
ground motion of Landers the AF is as high as 689%. From
Table 3 it is clear that the AF for ground motion of Landers is

Effect of FDGM

In an attempt to identify the threat posed due to the pulse-like

velocity waves to the tower of the cable-stayed bridge the
comparative study of response is carried out. The comparison
of the responses is made for FDGM with non-FDGM.
The FDGM were applied to the structure in two phases:
regular and inverse. The terms regular and inverse refer to
the way the two horizontal ground motion components were
applied to the bridge. Regular means that the fault normal and
fault parallel components are applied to the bridge in longitudinal and transverse directions, respectively, and vice versa
for inverse. As the fundamental period of the tower (1?66 s) was
in the transverse direction, application of inverse ground
motion was necessary to find the effect of the pulse period on the
structure when it is in tune with its natural period. The main
structural response parameter affected by the FDGM is
identified as the base moment and base shear of the tower on

Element

Cable 1

Cable 3

Cable 15

Cable 20

Cable 23

Cable 26

Ground motion

Main span

Main span

Main span

Side span

Side span

Side span

Takatori
Nishi-Akashi
Loma Prieta
Gazli
Landers

0?99
0?99
1?02
1?02
1?02

1
0?99
1?01
1?08
1?14

1?15
1?05
1?03
1?05
1?36

Table 4. Final amplification factor for selected cables and tower

228

1?01
1?04
1?15
1?2
1?38

1?02
1
1
1?03
1?16

0?98
1?01
0?96
1?12
1?25

Frame 878
Tower
1?01
0?98
1?09
1?05
1?19

The response of Karnali Bridge,

Nepal to near-fault earthquakes
Shrestha and Tuladhar

Loma Prieta
150

Takatori
Gazli
Nishi-Akashi

100
50

FDGM

Landers

Non-FDGM

0
-50

Loma Prieta
4

Gazli

Landers

Takatori
Nishi-Akashi

2
FDGM

Non-FDGM

0
-2

Nishi-Akashi

-100

Landers
Gazli

Nishi-Akashi
-4

-150
-200

Thousands

200

Base shear: kN

Thousands

Base moment: kNm

Bridge Engineering
Volume 165 Issue BE4

Loma Prieta

Gazli
Takatori

Takatori

Landers

Loma Prieta

-6
Ground motion

Ground motion

Figure 6. Tower maxima and minima base moment and base shear
for regular FDGM

respective axes, which are plotted along with non-FDGM.

Figures 6 and 7 show the bending and shear force response for
the tower for regular and inverse, respectively, compared with
non-FDGM. Figure 7 indicates that responses amplify when the
pulse period is tuned with the natural period of the structure.

Structural performance evaluation

This section examines the capacity of the cables and the tower of
the structure and compares it with the seismic loading obtained
from the analysis described previously to determine whether the
bridge is capable of resisting strong near-fault earthquakes.

5.1

Consideration of cable failure

200

Takatori

Loma Prieta

150
Gazli

100
Nishi-Akashi

50
FDGM

Landers

Non-FDGM

0
-50

Landers

Nishi-Akashi

-100

8
6

Takatori

Loma Prieta

Nishi-Akashi Gazli

Landers
2

FDGM

Non-FDGM

0
-2
Landers

Gazli
-4

-150
-200

Tower yielding consideration

As the Karnali cable-stayed bridge is a critical lifeline facility

and an integral part of the eastwest national highway systems,
it is desirable that it resists even the worst case of loading
within the elastic range without any residual damage. To

Thousands

Thousands

Base moment: kNm

The breaking strength of the cables, obtained from the design

drawings and the maximum tensions experienced by the cables

5.2

Base shear: kN

5.

during the seismic motions are included in Table 5. The

breaking strength of the cables are comfortably above the
maximum tensions experienced during the earthquakes. It
might be expected that there can be no failure of cables for the
ground motions studied. However, Table 5 illustrates that the
factor of safety may reduce near to unity. The worst cases of
response among all cables are, however, found for JR Takatori
ground motion. Cables near the centre of the span were found
to respond extremely to the ground motion.

Takatori

Loma Prieta

Nishi-Akashi Gazli

-6
Takatori

Loma Prieta

-8

-250
Ground motion

Ground motion

Figure 7. Tower maxima and minima base moment and base shear
for inverse FDGM

229

Bridge Engineering
Volume 165 Issue BE4

The response of Karnali Bridge,

Nepal to near-fault earthquakes
Shrestha and Tuladhar

Dead load
tension

Max tension
(seismic loading)

Max final
tension

Breaking
strength

Element

Ground motion
kN

Cable
Cable
Cable
Cable
Cable
Cable

1
3
15
20
23
26

kN

3775
2248
1007
1206
1969
1902

Factor of safety

kN

1164
740
1198
1516
847
678

kN

4939
2988
2205
2722
2816
2580

JR
JR
JR
JR
JR
JR

Takatori
Takatori
Takatori
Takatori
Takatori
Takatori

9409?5
6292?5
3175?5
3520?5
4906?5
6292?5

1?91
2?11
1?44
1?29
1?74
2?44

Table 5. Cable breaking strength and maximum tension

evaluate the elastic capacity of the tower the yield surface

equation for doubly symmetrical steel sections developed by
Chen and Duan (1990) was utilised considering the tower base
as a thin-walled box section. Figure 8 represents the most
critical yielding analysis of the tower base with regular and
inverse JR Takatori ground motion. Since the biaxial plot is a
spatial (three-dimensional) diagram, it is difficult to illustrate
the interaction condition. An alternative horizontal slice of the
biaxial diagram at the level of the applied axial force was used,
plotting the contour of the diagram at the level to create a
quarter-orbit plot. Only a quarter of the orbit plot is
presented because the orbit will be symmetrical for symmetrical sections. Figure 8(a) corresponds to an axial force level
of 78 323 kN. Maximum moment capacities are 166 000 kNm
and 151 000 kNm, respectively, for M22 (moment about
bridge longitudinal axis) and M33 (moment about bridge
transverse axis). In a typical design situation a section is
deemed to be unyielding if the coordinate (Abs (M22) and Abs
(M33)) reside inside the quarter orbit.

(a)

& The current seismic codes including IS 1893 and NBC 105

and many other codes recommend a vertical spectrum

with values, which vary from half to two-thirds of those of

Interaction diagram at axial force 103266 kN

Thousands

150
M22: kNm

Thousands

M22: kNm

Conclusion

A FEM capable of representing essential features of the

Karnali cable-stayed bridge was prepared. A series of
simulations were carried out to isolate the effects of vertical
motions. The study concentrated on the axial demand of the
cables and tower of the cable-stayed bridge. On the basis of the
results presented the following conclusions can be drawn:

Yield envelop
Series2

100

200

Yield Envelop
Series2

150

100

50

50

0
0

50

100

150

200

Thousands

M33: kNm

Figure 8. Critical quarter-orbit plot of tower base for regular (a)

and inverse (b) JR Takatori ground motion

230

6.

(b)

Interaction diagram at axial force 78323 kN

200

The results obtained here indicate the tower base is capable of

resisting regular JR Takatori ground motion within the elastic
range. Whereas when the inverse JR Takatori ground motion is
applied to the structure, Figure 8(b) shows that comprehensive
damage may be inflicted with higher levels of residual displacement. As this analysis considers the linear elastic stressstrain
relationship, the precise estimation of responses was not possible.

50

100

150

200

Thousands

-50

M33: kNm

Bridge Engineering
Volume 165 Issue BE4

&

&

&
&

&

the horizontal spectra. This approach seems to be

unconservative especially in a short period range and near
source distance. A more rational method needs to be
developed considering both the magnitude and the source
distance.
The geometric non-linearity has little influence on the
seismic response behaviour, even under strong earthquake
inputs investigated in this research. A small deformation
analysis is capable of predicting the responses, as was
concluded by Nazmy and Abdel Ghaffar (1990) and Ren
and Obata (1999).
Axial responses of the cables and the tower of the Karnali
cable-stayed bridge depend greatly on the characteristics of
ground motion and the dynamic properties of the bridge.
Earthquake records with the highest PGA value do not
necessarily induce the maximum response. Also, a higher
ratio of PGA value (V/H) does not guarantee the higher
amplification on the response of the members. It is observed
here that the ground motion with a higher spectral
acceleration ratio (V/H) at the later period of spectra (as
was the case with Landers ground motion) imposes a higher
demand on the structure compared with the corresponding
horizontal ground motion.
The contribution of the vertical motion to the extreme axial
force at the tower base is 1?19 and for the cables is 1?38.
The vertical ground motions considered in this investigation
did not significantly influence the response of the cables and
tower of the bridge, although the magnitude of the ground
motion in the vertical direction is large. This may be
attributed to the time lag between the peak horizontal and
peak vertical motion as well as phase difference between the
vertical period of flexible bridge and the input short period
vertical ground motion.
FDGM could impose a very high demand on the structure,
especially when the velocity pulse periods are tuned with the
period of the structure. Inverse JR Takatori ground
motion is found capable of producing residual damage on
the tower base of cable-stayed bridges. In addition, the
maximum tension for all cables under consideration is
achieved for JR Takatori ground motion, again emphasising the destructive potential of FDGM. However, as a
result of the limited number of ground motions investigated
this study is unable to shed light on the effect of the pulse
period and pulse intensity.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Graham Pocock and
Saroj Koirala from the WSP Group for their assistance to
improve the English grammar of this paper. The authors would
also like to extend thanks towards the Institute of Engineering,
Tribhuvan University, where this graduate research work was
carried out.

The response of Karnali Bridge,

Nepal to near-fault earthquakes
Shrestha and Tuladhar

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Bridge Engineering
Volume 165 Issue BE4

Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on

Earthquake Engineering, Taiwan.
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The response of Karnali Bridge,

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