Abstract
An innovative solution is proposed in this paper by introducing a hybrid-type cable stayed bridge as a competent system
to safely bridge very long spans. The new system leads into huge reduction in deck weight and its critical stresses in the
pylon zones by using hybrid advanced composite deck. It also reduces the stiffness losses of the stay-cables due to the
catenary’s action by using carbon fiber reinforced polymer cables. The paper proposes a proper consistent and system-
atic analysis and design procedure that optimize and precisely simulate the proposed bridge system. It recognizes the
changes in structural behavior of the cable-stayed system, accordingly it clearly defines the ultimate and serviceability
limit states for such new structural system in consistence with the limit state design philosophy. The design steps of the
ADP represent a multi-scale design technique while the analysis steps characterize a multi-scale modeling technique.
They represent the material design in the micro/macro-level, and accurate homogenization of the advanced composite
components properties and evaluation of the resulting anisotropic characteristics and then, three-dimensionally simulate
the hybrid bridge system involving all its nonlinearities. This paper investigates the performance of a new hybrid long-span
cable-stayed bridge, which engages the use of advanced composite materials for the deck and the stay-cables, applying the
analysis and design procedure. This design is scaled to match the general geometrical shapes, structural and aerodynamic
characteristics of three of the world-longest cable-stayed bridges. What’s more, four advanced composite deck section
models are proposed in this research. In order to study the performance of the referenced bridges, such as the natural
frequencies, the deck top surface maximum vertical displacement, maximum Tsai-Hill failure function and the critical
flutter velocity, three sets of parameters are investigated. The parameters include: (i) the micro level parameters-fiber
fraction, (ii) the macro level parameters-Laminas Dominant Fiber Alignment and Laminate Thickness and (iii) the struc-
ture level parameters- cable radius.
Keywords
Fiber reinforced plastic, analysis and design procedure, multi-scale design technique, micro level, macro level, structure
level, bridge deck, structural and aerodynamic characteristics
1
Key Laboratory of Engineering Safety and Disaster Mechanics (Sichuan
University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu, China
Introduction 2
College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, Chengdu,
Bridging very long spans has always been a great chal- China
3
Western China Earthquake and Hazards Mitigation Research Centre,
lenge for engineers throughout history. The pre-
Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
eminence of cable-supported static systems, in addition *
Deceased
to the use of higher strength materials, enables engin-
eers to move ahead to the limits of what is technically This article was submitted as part of the Advances in Marine Composites
possible. Cable-stayed types of bridges are becoming Science and Engineering Special Issue.
more and more popular in the construction of long Corresponding author:
Xie Ling-zhi, College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan
span bridges due to their many advantages, i.e. light University, No.24 South Section1, Yihuan Road, Chengdu chengdu,
weight, efficient load resistance and smaller cross sec- 610065 China.
tions. The cable-stayed bridge can be constructed for Email: xielingzhi@scu.edu.cn
even longer spans, if the deck and cable stiffness and system is that of a dual plane, fan type, cable-stayed
strength-to-weight ratios can be improved. This could bridge with an eccentric type pylon.8
significantly diminish the critical compressive stresses Consequently, based on these research, a new hybrid
of the deck in the pylon zones and increase the apparent long-span cable-stayed bridge which utilizes advanced
stiffness of the stay-cables, as their sag action is reduced composite materials for the deck and the stay-cables is
due to a huge drop of the weight per unit length. proposed. And in the paper, the new cable-stayed
Nevertheless, the major target in the design, building bridge system is scaled to match the general geometrical
and maintenance of longer span cable-stayed bridges shapes of three of the world-longest cable-stayed
remains the reduction of the deck stresses, life cycle bridges, the Annacis Island bridge of Vancouver
effectiveness and the aerodynamic stability. (central-span of 465 m), the second Chang River
Fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) materials have super- Bridge, China (central-span of 628 m), and the Tatara
ior structural characteristics, such as high strength and Bridge, Japan (central-span of 890 m).
stiffness-to-weight ratios, high resistance to corrosion Advanced composites have complicated anisotropic
and favorable fatigue characteristics. These properties, mechanical properties, which result from the material
together with recently reduced material cost-to-weight micro/macro architecture. While the only coupling of
ratio, encourage the use of FRPs in the bridge construc- an isotropic material is the extension-extension cou-
tion.1 Davalos et al.2 presented a comprehensive pling, the stresses and strains of an anisotropic material
approach for the analysis and design of pultruded are all coupled, and the failure states cannot be related
FRP beams in bending. Salim et al.3 presented a to a single stress or strain. The deformation response of
comprehensive study on analysis and design of FRP an anisotropic material, even to simple stress states, can
composite deck-and-stringer bridge system. The FRP literally be in every direction and in every plane.
decks considered consist of continuous thin-walled Consequently, with the minimum use of the material,
box sections and were fabricated by bonding side-by- it is very challenging to develop proper advanced com-
side pultruded thin-walled box sections and were placed posite structural sections. Structures formed from such
transversely over FRP composite stringers. Aref and sections should be capable of holding the static and
Parsons4 presented an integral FRP bridge structural dynamic loads and give acceptable static deformations
system, consisting of a series of inner cells sur- and vibrations in the desired planes, while in other
rounded by an outer shell. Rama Mohan Rao and plains the deformations and vibration amplitudes are
Lakshmi5 presented a multi-objective discrete hybrid negligible.
adaptive swarm intelligence algorithm for combina- A long-span cable-stayed bridge system is a very sen-
torial optimization and applied for design optimiza- sitive nonlinear system. Balancing the loads and stiff-
tion of fiber-reinforced composite structures. Meier6 ness contributions of different components in the bridge
proposed a carbon fiber reinforced composite bridge system, and the cable-stay configuration, pretension
across the Strait of Gibraltar. Although huge dimen- and sagging play important roles in the stress levels
sions of the proposed cable-stayed bridge raise a and distributions in the cable-stayed bridge deck and
great number of problems (for example, resistance stay-cables. On the other hand, as the central-span of
against wind loads and aerodynamic stability, long- the proposed bridge system is very long, aerodynamic
term reliability, etc.) that remain to be solved, the stability is of major concern. The dynamic characteris-
researcher proved that such a bridge appears possible tics of the bridge system, such as the natural frequencies
from the technical standpoint within the next 30 to and the system damping, have important effects on the
40 years. Khalifa et al.7 describe the various analysis bridge response to the aerodynamic excitation.
and design aspects of an FRP cable-stayed bridge. The traditional cable-stayed bridge system is
The analysis was made using three-dimensional designed using a well-defined list of typical materials
macro models of the bridge to describe its overall and the optimization of bridge is limited to structure
behavior under static and dynamic loads. Separate scale. Simões and Negrão9,10 proposed an optimization
analysis was done to study the local stability of the with goals of minimum cost of material, stresses and
different structural elements. displacement. Cable anchor positions and cross-
To demonstrate the application of advanced com- sectional sizes of the structural members are dealt
posite materials in the cable-stayed bridge field, The with as design variables. Hassan et al.11,12 developed
University of California, San Diego and The Federal a robust design optimization technique to achieve the
Highway Administration (1993–2004) presented a four- minimum cross-sectional areas of stay cables and ver-
lane traffic and 137.2 -m long, cable-stayed bridge sup- tical deflections along the deck. The developed opti-
ported by a 57.9 -m high A-frame pylon. The (I-5/ mization technique integrates finite element method,
Gilman) advanced composite cable-stayed bridge B-spline curves and genetic algorithm (GA). Cai and
Aref13 focused on improving the aerodynamic perform- The analysis and design procedure of
ance through implementing carbon fiber reinforced
polymer (CFRP) composites in the cable system in
hybrid long-span cable-stayed bridge
combination with steel. A GA-based optimization pro- In addition to the necessity for including the changes in
cedure is developed to optimize the distribution of structural behavior of the hybrid cable-stayed system,
CFRP and steel. Lonetti and Pascuzzo14 presented a due to the use of advanced composite deck sections
design methodology to predict optimum post- together with CFRP cables in the analysis-design
tensioning forces and dimensioning of the cable process, it is also required to define clearly the ultimate
system for hybrid cable-stayed suspension bridges. In and serviceability limit states for such a new structural
contrast, the advanced composite material has to be system. The analysis and design procedure for the new
designed in the micro/macro scale to give the desired proposed hybrid cable-stayed bridge includes the
characteristic to the bridge structure. The advanced micro/macro level design of the chopped FRP, the lam-
material architecture parameters should then be inte- inas and laminates, a thorough evaluation of their
grated to the bridge system structural parameters to resulting properties through a homogenization pro-
give a single iterative process. The aim of such a process cess,16 and the estimation of their equivalent character-
is to get an optimum static and dynamic response of the istics in the structural level. The next stage is the
proposed hybrid bridge. Consequently, the present numerical simulation of the proposed structural
research suggests an analysis-design procedure invol- system in three dimensions using a nonlinear aniso-
ving multi-scale modeling techniques and following tropic finite element model, which results in consistent
the limit-states design philosophy. The procedure representation of both the material and the geometrical
starts with an assumed micro/macro design for the characteristics.
advanced composites, and accordingly the mechanical As the laminated FRP material involved in the
properties of the material are evaluated. The results proposed deck sections has anisotropic properties, the
represent an input for the structure level modeling procedure should include proper material failure cri-
stage. Then the structure level parameters are evaluated teria that have to be examined in different stages of
by the limit states and the structural stability bounds. the procedure. The serviceability requirements include
According to the results, further modifications (or examination of whether the proposed bridge system
major changes) to the micro/macro level parameters models do match acceptable deformation and vibration
are expected. Re-evaluation of the material properties limits under extreme service loading situations. Finally,
starts a second cycle of the analysis and design the proposed system is a long-span cable-stayed bridge
procedure. The other steps are repeated successively and the aerodynamic stability has to be assured in the
and the procedure cycles are repeated till an optimum analysis-design procedure and this step position in the
bridge system behavior is achieved.15 course of action has to be defined.
In the present research, the focus is on the perform- On the other hand, an optimization process of the
ance of the proposed bridge system. Therefore, the bridge system detailed dimensions and materials design
influence of the major micro/macro and structure par- is to be integrated with the proposed analysis and
ameters on the bridge response is investigated. design procedure. This involves: (i) the material proper-
Consequently, to view the effect of using advanced ties of the fibers and matrix and the fiber fraction in the
composite material on the new cable-stayed system per- chopped FRP material, (ii) the micro/macro level
formance, three sets of parameters are examined. The design of the composite laminas and laminate, (iii) the
first set includes the micro level parameters such as section internal dimensions in the structure level, (iv)
fibers and matrix properties, fiber fraction and random- the stay-cables configurations (assumed to be the same
ness or periodicity of the microstructure of the as those of the reference bridges throughout this
advanced composites. While the second set includes research), cable diameter, level of pretension at each
the macro-level parameters such as the lamina align- cable and the cable anchorage. The multi-level opti-
ments and thicknesses, laminas sequence in the lamin- mization process is bounded by: (i) the required ultim-
ate or the laminate lay-up, and the laminate thickness. ate static load capacity of the bridge system and the
The third set is the structure level parameters, which allowable deformations and vibration under service
includes the bridge central-span length, the CFRP loads, (ii) separation and divergence of the torsional
radius and the pylons stiffness. Many other structure- from the bending natural frequencies and avoiding
level parameters are not discussed in this research, such any coupling of different oscillation modes. Hence,
as the pylon height, the stay system arrangements and achieving the optimum hybrid system design and per-
the boundary conditions, as those of the reference formance is a very complicated task; however, it could
bridges are used for comparison purposes. lead to a long-span bridge system with better structural
Figure 1. Analysis and design procedure of hybrid long span cable-stayed bridges.
and aerodynamic characteristics than the existing suitable composite material micro/macro design and
bridge systems (using traditional materials). For exam- deck cross-section configuration.
ple, the coupling of the oscillation modes of the trad- The analysis and design procedure for hybrid long-
itional very long-span cable-stayed bridges could be span cable-stayed bridge system is illustrated schemat-
reduced for the case of the proposed bridges through ically in Figure 1. The bridge is designed according to
Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code 2001 using continuum mechanics, without unnecessary and
(CHBDC-01) using CL-625-ONT truck and lane unrealistic oversimplification.
loading.
Design and modeling the bridge system in
Micro/macro level design and evaluation of advanced structural level
composite materials Many researchers21,22 showed that the stiffness of
At this step in the analysis-design procedure, the micro/ advanced composite material is coupled to the geom-
macro design of the material is determined. This could etry of the structure. The deformation response of an
include deciding on the types of fiber and matrix to be anisotropic material even to simple stress state can lit-
used for each lamina, the volumetric ratio of the fiber, erally be in every direction and every plane. It has also
lamina thickness, orientation of the fiber in the lamina, been proved that orthotropic materials could exhibit
the periodicity or randomness of the fiber in the micro- apparent anisotropy when stressed in non-principal
scale structure of the advanced composites, sequence of material coordinates, which is the stress state of laminas
the laminas in the laminate and the resin used.17–19 The of the deck. Hence, accurate simulation of the compos-
final decision is an output of a complicated interactive ite structure geometry in three dimensions is a necessity
process the boundary of which is the anticipated char- although it is a very expensive and long process.
acteristics of the bridge structural systems and their Consequently, it is not possible to simplify the deck
performance under extreme loading conditions. using an equivalent simple structural system. For
Although following general material and sectional instance, the cable-stayed bridge deck designed using
design regulations adopted from experience with trad- the traditional materials are frequently modeled by an
itional cable-stayed bridge systems is supposed to sim- equivalent grid or orthotropic plate. In this research,
plify and accelerate the analysis-design procedure, it the deck section geometry is simulated exactly in all its
does not guarantee that the structural system will details.
pass all the limit states and the aerodynamic stability As the bridge systems, particularly, the deck and
requirements. Unfortunately, such considerations are cables are expected to have high deformation; the geo-
apparently oversimplified analogies and are incapable metric nonlinearity is taken into account in the finite
of dealing with the complicated behavior of the pro- element model. It is also noted that the material anisot-
posed system. ropy generates another type of nonlinearity due to
In this study, two types of FRP composite materials anisotropic material properties. In addition to that, it
are used in the design of the bridge deck: (i) randomly is also important to note the unsymmetrical nature of
oriented FRP and (ii) periodically oriented FRP. the deformations and stresses resulting from any sym-
Consequently, two approaches have been proposed to metrical loading applied on the proposed symmetrical
bridge the advanced material properties from the micro bridge models.
level into the macro level: (i) stochastic finite element
modeling of chopped fiber FRP composites. A simpli- Material failure criterion and adjust CFRP
fied random process relating the random fiber fraction
cable pretension
in the meso-scale to the size of the element, involving a
variable ‘‘probability band width’’, is introduced and Different materials are used in the proposed system and
(ii) analytical method to evaluate periodic composites have to be examined for any possible failure under
with continuous fibers. This approach relates the stiff- extreme loading conditions. Two major types of mater-
ness and strength properties of the advanced composite ials are involved in the system, isotropic of anisotropic
material to the basic general properties of their compo- materials homogenized to isotropic and anisotropic
nents, the fiber and the matrix, and the volumetric per- materials homogenized to orthotropic. Since the failure
centage of the fiber in the composite.15,20 Consequently, states of isotropic materials are understood and well-
the individual properties of the advanced composites defined, the concentration here is on the orthotropic
components and the random or the periodic nature of material failure criteria. As a result of the micro/
their existence are characterized. The engineering prop- macro homogenization process, the laminas of uni-
erties in the macro-level are the output of this import- directional fibers that are used in the laminate design
ant step in the analysis design procedure that leads to have orthotropic mechanical properties. Hence using
homogenization of the material properties in the micro- related failure criteria is essential since the failure cri-
level to the macro-level. Then, with these resulting teria of isotropic materials are not applicable. The Tsai-
properties, the basic assumptions of the mechanics of Hill failure criteria used in this research are based on
homogenous materials are valid and a structure built the stress failure theories.23 Denoting orthotropic
using advanced composite materials can be analyzed material directions by 1 and 2, with the 1-material
direction aligned with the fibers and the 2-material dir- Approaching the structural characteristics of the ref-
ection transverse to the fibers. erence bridges would lead to (i) distinguish and care-
Once the nonlinear anisotropic finite element model is fully define the material, geometrical and structural
developed and optimized for the best numerical perform- variables that affect the structural behavior to be inves-
ance, the investigation of the structural behavior of the tigated in the performance and optimization study, (ii)
hybrid cable-stayed bridge system under ultimate load- comprehend the proposed system capabilities and
ing conditions is ready to run. The first step of this inves- limits in comparison to the reference bridges, (iii)
tigation is the adjustment of the pretension forces of the decide the types of advanced composites to be used
stay cables. The procedure used in this research, which is in each model, together with optimizing their micro/
called the zero-deflection cable-stays pretension proced- macro design, and (iv) find applicable ranges of the
ure, is mainly dependent on the application of an appro- deck section components internal dimensions and
priate pretension stress for every cable. In order to proportions.
overcome the large deflection in the mid-central-span
of the bridge, the pretension is increased according to Ultimate and serviceability limit states and material-
the distance measured on the deck surface from each
cable anchorage to the pylon. The major function of
sectional optimization
this variable pretension is to reduce the deck deflection This stage includes performing the ultimate and
due to self-weight and dead loads down to zero along the serviceability limit states which lead to finalizing of
deck longitudinal centerline. For the configurations of the micro-macro-level-design of the advanced chopped
the hybrid cable-stayed bridge discussed in the paper, composites, laminas and laminate together with deck
it has been found that the following empirical expression section design in the structural level. At the end, the
for the pretension force at any cable perfectly matches assembled composite box girder is optimized minimiz-
the zero-deflection procedure requirement: ing the materials needed, simplifying the micro/macro
structure to a practically acceptable level and deciding
ði þ 1Þ=3 the final detailed properties.
Ti ¼ ED2 ð1Þ This includes study of the system behavior under the
L
ultimate traffic loads of single or multiple design truck
where: loads, or single or multiple design lane loads. As the
Ti : the tension at cable i, (N). proposed bridges are assumed to have very long spans,
i: cable number starting from the face of the pylon as it is apparent that the critical loading case is the full
0 and the maximum number is for the cable positioned design lane loading of all lanes.
far from the pylon in both sides. In order to avoid a very conservative prediction of
E: the modulus of elasticity of cable material (Pa). the material resistance, stress ultimate limit states have
D: cable diameter (m). to be identified in this stage. Those limit states are
L: central-span of the bridge (m). mainly related to the material failure modes such as
: a constant depend on the central-span and pylon the delamination of the advanced composite laminate
height (e.g. ¼ 1.575 for 2nd Chang river cable-stayed box girder or de-bonding of the deck section compo-
bridge). nents. Another limit state could be related to the mater-
ial failure criteria, such as the material stress failure
Approaching the basic static and dynamic properties conditions (e.g. Tsai-Hill failure criterion).
On the other hand, the serviceability limit
of reference bridges states would involve a thorough investigation of the
The hybrid system is proposed in the form of three deformations, particularly the deflections, under the
bridge arrangements, each dimensioned to match the service design loads, keeping those deformations
general geometrical shape, dimensions and configur- within acceptable limits. In addition, limiting the vibra-
ation of one of the reference bridges mentioned earlier. tion of the deck due to traffic loads and vortex shedding
Although this ‘‘geometrical match’’ can be performed within the acceptable ranges are parts of the serviceabil-
directly by the three-dimensional modeling step, ity checks.
approaching the structural static and dynamic charac- Minimizing the amount of material used and
teristics of the reference bridges is very difficult and maximizing the efficiency and the structural safety of
worthwhile task. The different materials and sectional the proposed system are the core factors of an opti-
properties would diverge the new system behavior from mization process in this step of the analysis design pro-
that of the reference bridges, particularly the dynamic cedure. And it is apparent that the final hybrid deck
behavior, but with proper design it could lead to a section details are approached and minor changes can
better performance. take place during the next step.
Figure 4. Model III dimensioned for second Chang River cable-stayed bridge.
properties and the three-dimensional deformation corners should desirably being round during the man-
resulting from the anisotropy. ufacturing process in order to overcome such serious
problem. As the cable-stayed bridge’s central-span
Model II. In order to minimize the deck weight in cases increased, the compression stresses in the deck are
where the aerodynamic stability is not the dominant increased; principally in the pylon zone and the risk
concern, slender and flexible decks are frequently used of vertical thin CFRP panels buckling becomes more
in medium-span and many long-span bridges. As a con- probable. As a result, it is may be imperative to replace
sequence, ‘‘Model II’’ is introduced as the most basic such deep cells by multi-cells using refined system with
section in the investigation, and is called ‘‘II’’ instead of smaller-thinner-walled cells and outer binding box of
‘‘I’’ because its depth does not match the reference the same dimension as the original cell.
bridges deck section depths.
The same principal configuration is employed as the Model III. In order to eliminate the corners’ stress con-
section is again formed from a set of inner cells and an centrations in the inner cells and outer binding boxes of
outer binding box. The section is composed of a series models I and II, a tubular cell configuration, Figure 4,
of trapezoidal or triangular inner box cells surrounded is introduced for ‘‘Model III’’. The inner cell sections
by an outer binding box shaping the final pattern. are of semi-elliptical shape with upper and lower hori-
Figure 3 shows ‘‘Model II’’ dimensioned to approach zontal sides connected by two semi-circular sides in the
the width of second Chang River bridge deck section. vertical direction. The outer boundary dimensions of
The section is more aerodynamically smooth with less this model are the same as those of ‘‘Model I’’, except
mass and less torsional stiffness than that of ‘‘Model I’’. the corners at the two lower edges are rounded. The
The sharp edges in the inner cells as well as the outer section is again composed of a series of inner cells
binding box would dramatically amplify the stress in surrounded by an outer binding box shaping the final
the different laminates especially the vertical. Those pattern. The top face of the laminated box girder is
continuously attached to a ‘‘deck slab’’ formed from The two sides of the bridge deck in this model serve
chopped fiber reinforced composites. as huge girders supporting the intermediate slab-girder
The structural analysis results related to this section system. The isotropic nature of the dominant material,
confirm high torsional stiffness and much less risk of that is the chopped FRP, would simplify the analysis
stress concentrations, delamination or buckling, except process.
the rounded part of the bottom outer laminate, where The outer boundary of the cross-section does not
the stress state is sensitive. The contact between any completely match those of the reference bridges and
two contiguous cellular tubes could reduce the torsional hence the aerodynamic behavior is expected to be
stiffness but it less affects the longitudinal bending stiff- different. The section is expected to be less aerodynam-
ness. Hence, it is assumed that any two adjacent vertical ically efficient in low service wind speeds. Much more
laminates have a common tangential line in the longi- vortex shedding tribulations are expected than the first
tudinal bridge direction. Theoretical and experimental three models because of the rather big two-sided
investigation on a simple span bridge using a similar ‘‘girders’’ and the relatively narrow intermediate part.
arrangement showed that the system deformation is The section of this model has very high torsional
considerably reduced when the round sides of the stiffness and similarly extremely high torsional natural
inner tubes are joined using adhesive.26 It may be also frequencies. The coupling of the vertical and torsional
possible to improve the static and dynamic behavior of modes due to the anisotropy, which are expected in the
the model by filling the space between the circular sides first three models, vanishes for this model. ‘‘Model IV’’
of the inner cells by a chopped fiber reinforced polymer, is expected to have a higher flutter speed as the natural
with less fiber content than the material used for the vertical, lateral and torsional modes are separated
deck slab; however, this case is not studied in this and far apart from each other. However, the vortex
research. The bridge system structural behavior under shedding phenomena is of concern.
static load cases and its natural frequencies are highly
related to the laminate layup and thickness. Micro-macro design of advanced composites
decks. Mechanical properties of the chopped FRP and
Model IV. In order to increase the torsional stiffness of the laminas of the FRP laminates, which are evaluated
the deck section, reduce the use of the laminated FRP in the course of the multi-scale modeling first phase, are
materials and increase the volume of the chopped FRP the input for the deck section designs at the second
material, ‘‘Model IV’’, Figure 5, is introduced. It has a phase in the structure level. Main considerations in
completely different configuration from the preceding such design are deciding the optimum fiber fraction in
three models. For economical design, the use of lami- the laminas advanced composites, utilizing the laminate
nated GFRP material is limited to the two longitudinal out-of-the-loading-plane deformations to improve the
tubular shells at both ends of the section and the stiffen- structural performance, deciding the type of the
ing GFRP laminated sheets for the slab-grid system. advanced composite to be used and optimizing
the laminate thickness. Obviously, the overall system
behavior, its approaching to the reference bridges fun-
damental static and dynamic characteristics, and its
passing all the ultimate and serviceability limit
states are the basis for any decision related to the
micro-macro level design of the materials used. A
laminate dominant fiber alignment (LDFA), shown in
Figure 6, which is the direction of the majority of
Figure 5. Model IV dimensioned for second Chang River cable- Figure 6. Laminate dominant fiber alignment for different
stayed bridge. laminate alignments.
Table 1. Laminates macro design of e-glass fiber and vinylester matrix (GFVM) advanced composite with different laminas alignment
and thickness sets – Annacis Island bridge and second Chang River bridge.
Laminate thickness (m) Laminas alignment angle (with respect to the bridge longitudinal direction) (degree)
uni-alignment-fiber-laminas in the laminates, is intro- epoxy matrix. The mechanical properties of these cables
duced and would be connected to the main direction are linear elastic isotropic with strength much higher
of the traffic (or the longitudinal direction of the than high-strength steel and a modulus of elasticity
bridge). slightly less than that of the steel (165 GPa versus
The chopped FRP made of e-glass volumetric fiber 200 GPa for steel) and a similar Poisson’s ratio of
fraction of 0.19 and carbon volumetric fiber fraction of 0.29. However, for a cable horizontal projection
0.02 with vinylester matrix is used in this investigation. length of 400 m and stress level ranging between 10%
On the other hand, the laminas composite material and 20% of the material strength, the apparent or Ernst
made of e-glass fiber and vinylester matrix (GFVM) is Modulus of CFRP is much higher and less sensitive to
appear as the most economical choice and will be inves- the applied tensile stress than that of the steel (162.8–
tigated thoroughly as the laminas material. E-glass fiber 164.7 GPa versus 49.3–144.8 GPa for steel). This is pri-
fraction of 0.47 is used in this study. The mechanical marily due to the CFRP cables lightweight per
properties of FRP are presented in Almansour et al.15,20 unit length, which is about one-sixth of the steel
Tables 1 and 2 show the three laminas alignment (13.5 kN/m3 versus 75 kN/m3 for the steel), while the
angle designs and the three thickness designs for the strength is much higher than the steel (3100 MPa for
three reference bridges using GFVM advanced compos- CFRP versus 1000–1870 MPa for the steel). For fatigue
ite laminas. and strength considerations, the limit of the maximum
permissible stress in general is 45% of the strength for
steel cables but it can exceed 90% for CFRP cables.28,29
CFRP cables
However, the relaxation and creep strains of CFRP
CFRP cables are proposed as an alternative to the trad- Cables are higher and need to be adjusted repeatedly
itional high-strength steel cables for all the four models in the construction to reach the design tensile stress
mentioned earlier. The mechanical properties used for levels.25
those cable are the same as those given by BBR Ltd in The use of CFRP cables is anticipated to greatly
collaboration with EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories improve the cable-stayed bridge performance in differ-
for Materials and Testing).27,28 The stays have CFRP ent ways. First, their very low weight would reduce
cables consisting of parallel wire bundles, each having sagging and consequently increase their stiffness,
many wires, 5-mm diameter each, containing about which means that the Ernst modulus is higher than
24,000 single carbon fibers. The total sectional area of that of traditional steel cables. Second, the very high
a CFRP wire consists of 70% carbon fibers and a 30% strength, which is almost three times the steel cable
Table 2. Laminates macro design of e-glass fiber and vinylester matrix (GFVM) advanced composite with different laminas alignment
and thickness sets – Tatara Bridge.
Laminate thickness (m) Laminas alignment angle (with respect to the Bridge longitudinal direction) (Degree)
General lay-out of the proposed this research, are affected more and should be studied
in further research.
cable-stayed system For the comparison purposes, minor changes have
The proposed hybrid cable-stayed bridge systems have been made to accommodate the differences in the
the same general geometrical shapes as the three refer- design of those three reference bridges in an attempt
ence bridges. For comparison and prediction purposes, to unify their general geometrical proportions with
minor changes have been made to accommodate the the proposed bridge design. Rescaling the basic design
differences in the design of the three reference bridges of the proposed hybrid advanced composite bridge is
in an attempt to unify their general geometrical propor- then possible to present a bridge shape similar to
tions in the proposed bridge system. The details of the each of the mentioned reference bridges. Figures 7–9
vertical plane of the proposed pylon is the same as the show the proposed design resized to match the three
Tatara Bridge with the exception of separating the top reference bridges.
‘‘columns’’ in order to place each cable set in one plane
normal to the deck surface. This would simplify the Performance investigation of the
bridge geometric design, and consequently the finite proposed hybrid long-span
element model. In addition, such a change in the
cable-stayed bridge
pylon has a negligible effect on the deck static and aero-
dynamic behavior; however, the aerodynamic charac- The performance investigation of the proposed hybrid
teristics of the pylon itself, which is out of the scope of long-span cable-stayed bridge is proposed through a
Figure 11. Fiber fraction effect on first vertical natural fre- Figure 14. Laminas dominant fiber alignment effect on vertical
quency, LDFA-a, Tha, cable radius 0.150 m, Tatara Bridge. displacement, Thb, critical load case, cable radius 0.100 m,
Annacis Island Bridge.
The effect of laminas dominant fiber alignment on Figure 18. Laminas dominant fiber alignment effect on THFF,
the maximum Tsai Hill failure function (THFF) can Laminate B, Thb, LLA, cable radius 0.150 m, Tatara Bridge.
be summarized as follows: (i) the top laminate of the
laminated box girder of Models I, II and III and the
stiffening laminate of Model IV or Laminate B (Figures
16–18) has the lowest THFF that is slightly decreased
with the increase of LDFA for all models, (ii) The
bottom laminate of the laminated box girder of
Models I, II and III and the left cylindrical laminate
of Model IV or Laminates C (Figures 19–21) has the
maximum THFF among the other laminates (except
for Model II with LDFA 12 ), and it also shows a
general slight reduction of its level with the increase of
LDFA. Model II gives a fluctuated THFF with the
medium bridge central-span (or the second Chang
River bridge), and Model III shows an increase of its
THFF level for the range (10 LDFA 20 ), (iii) The Figure 19. Laminas dominant fiber alignment effect on THFF,
vertical laminates of the laminated box girder of Laminate C, Thb, LLA, cable radius 0.100 m Annacis Island
Models I, II and III and the right cylindrical laminate Bridge.
of Model IV or Laminates D (Figures 22–24) show a
slight decrease or slight increase, except with Model II the deck stiffness, lead to changes in the distributions of
for the second Chang River bridge, where the increase different stresses. Hence, the Tsai-Hill failure function
is very rapid and very high. distributions over every laminate in the deck are also
The changes in the moduli of different laminates, due changed. The static stresses in the deck are mainly due
to the increase of LDFA and the resulting changes in to the flexure, torsion and the concentrated loads.
Figure 26. Laminas dominant fiber alignment effect on critical Figure 28. Laminate thickness effect on vertical displacement,
flutter speed, Tha, cable radius 0.125 m, second Chang River Bridge. LAa, LLA, cable radius 0.100 m, Annacis Island Bridge.
Figure 30. Laminate thickness effect on THFF, Laminate B, LAa, Figure 31. Laminate thickness effect on THFF, Laminate C,
LLA, cable radius 0.150 m, Tatara Bridge. LAa, LLA, cable radius 0.100 m, Annacis Island Bridge.
Figure 37. Laminate thickness effect on critical flutter speed, Figure 39. Laminate thickness effect on critical flutter speed,
LAa, cable radius 0.100 m, Annacis Island Bridge. LAa, cable radius 0.150 m, Tatara Bridge.
Figure 38. Laminate thickness effect on critical flutter speed, Figure 40. CFRP cable radius effect on vertical displacement,
LAa, cable radius 0.125 m, second Chang River Bridge. LAa, LLA, Tha, Annacis Island Bridge.
Figure 50. CFRP cable radius effect on Tsai-Hill, Laminate D, Figure 53. CFRP cable radius effect on critical flutter speed,
LAa, Tha, LLA, second Chang River Bridge. LAa, Thb, second Chang River Bridge.
important to note that the examined CFRP cable the shortest bridge central-span, they are at their max-
radius are basically increased as the bridge central- imum level with the longest bridge span.
span length increases. The laminate architecture, according to the pro-
The increase of the CFRP cable radius improves the posed lay-up rule, which is based on the ‘‘Laminas
restraining effect of the cable-stays system on the deck. Dominant Fiber Alignment’’ principle, gives better
Hence it improves the static behavior of the hybrid results than any general simple orientation arrange-
system as well as the natural frequencies. The increase ments of single, double or triple laminas. Under
of the deck restraint could change the mode shape of extreme static dead and traffic load conditions, it
the different frequencies. It also diverges the different gives lower deformations and a lower level of Tsai-
higher natural frequencies and contributes in releasing Hill failure function.
their possible coupling for some models. Ignoring the The increase of the laminas dominant fiber align-
effect of the cable radius increase on increasing the ment leads to slight changes of all the deck displace-
aerodynamic loads on the cables themselves, the overall ments. The increase of LDFA results in a slight
behavior of the bridge is improved since it is ‘‘better’’ reduction of the Tsai-Hill failure function over the
supported. Different models show different rates of top and the bottom laminates. On the other hand, the
increase patterns for different bridge central-span short vertical laminates of Model II and the rounded
lengths (Figures 52–54), depending on their different edges of the bottom laminate of Model III become sen-
stiffness, masses and different natural frequencies. sitive and develop high levels of THFF.
All the displacements of the hybrid long-span cable-
stayed bridge deck are reduced with the increase of the
Conclusion
laminate thickness. However, the rates of reduction of
The proposed hybrid cable-stayed bridge is a compe- the displacements are different from model to model.
tent system to safely bridge very long spans and can The reduction of the stresses due to the increase in the
represent an innovative solution to the critical prob- sectional area results in a general reduction of THFF
lems in the design and construction of long-span values of all laminates as the laminate thickness
cable-stayed bridges. It has been proved that the ana- increases for most of the examined cases. Due to the
lysis and design procedure is representing a proper increase of the deck self-weight, that increases the deck
consistent and systematic process for analyzing and stresses in the pylon zones, the rate of change decreases
designing the proposed hybrid long-span cable- as the laminate thickness increases. The short vertical
stayed bridge. The procedure recognizes the changes laminates of Model II and the rounded connections of
in structural behavior of the cable-stayed system due the bottom laminate of Model III appear to be sensitive
to the use of hybrid deck cross sections together with to the laminate thickness increase and develop high
CFRP cables. Accordingly, it clearly defines the levels of THFF.
ultimate and serviceability limit states for such new The increase of the CFRP cable radius results in
structural system in consistence with the limit state huge and dominant reductions of the maximum deflec-
design philosophy. The ultimate limit states include tion of the deck for all models and all central-span
ultimate loading cases and the advanced composite lengths. It also results in a reduction of the lateral dis-
material failure criterions. On the other side, the ser- placement for most of the cases. However, the max-
viceability requirements include examination of imum longitudinal displacements either remain
whether those systems do match acceptable deform- constant or increase slightly. As the CFRP cable
ation and vibration limits under extreme service-load- radius increases, a large decrease is evident in the max-
ing situations. imum Tsai-Hill failure function in all laminates of all
Optimum design and performance of the system models and for all bridge spans.
could be achieved by performing a proper multi-scale Model IV has a maximum flutter speed. The best
design and simulation process. The proper design in the results are mostly related to a low level of laminas dom-
micro-scale involves the laminas and the chopped FRP inant fiber alignment and the medium LTh. Model II
material designs. The proper macro-design includes gives the lowest and Model I gives the second lowest
mainly the design of the laminate. The proper structure CFS, while Model III gives the second highest CFS. It
level design involves the deck section design all the way has been found that the increase of the laminas dom-
through the use of different configurations of laminated inant fiber alignment results in slight changes of the
box-girders, tubular laminates, chopped FRP layers, CFS of different models. As the LTh increases, it has
‘‘slab-grid’’ and chopped FRP side boxes. been found that the CFS show almost the same pattern;
The increase of the volumetric fiber fraction leads to increase in the CFS as LTh increases from the lowest
a reduction in all the displacements and increases the examined thickness to the medium, then decreases with
natural frequencies. While these changes are small for further increase in the LTh. However, the CFS related
to the maximum examined LTh is usually higher than 13. Hongwei Cai and Aref AJ. On the design and optimiza-
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