Fairclough, H.E., Gilbert, M. orcid.org/0000-0003-4633-2839, Pichugin, A.V. et al. (2 more authors) (2018) Theoretically optimal forms for very long span bridges under gravity loading. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 474 (2217). ISSN 1364-5021
Abstract
Long-span bridges have traditionally employed suspension or cable-stayed forms, comprising vertical pylons and networks of cables supporting a bridge deck. However, the optimality of such forms over very long spans appears never to have been rigorously assessed, and the theoretically optimal form for a given span carrying gravity loading has remained unknown. To address this we here describe a new numerical layout optimization procedure capable of intrinsically modelling the self-weight of the constituent structural elements, and use this to identify the form requiring the minimum volume of material for a given span. The bridge forms identified are complex and differ markedly to traditional suspension and cable-stayed bridge forms. Simplified variants incorporating split pylons are also presented. Although these would still be challenging to construct in practice, a benefit is that they are capable of spanning much greater distances for a given volume of material than traditional suspension and cablestayed forms employing vertical pylons, particularly when very long spans (e.g. over 2 km) are involved.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
Keywords: | bridges; catenary of equal strength; structural optimization; layout optimization |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Civil and Structural Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 10 Oct 2018 13:59 |
Last Modified: | 10 Oct 2018 13:59 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2017.0726 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Royal Society, The |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1098/rspa.2017.0726 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:136805 |