Finite Element Analysis and Physical Modeling of a Cable-Stayed Bridge

In order to face up to the traffic congestion problem, many cable-stayed bridges are designed with a large ratio of width to span. This results in significant shear lag effect to cause nonuniform stress distribution along the flanges of the beam. This paper presents a study on the shear lag effect and dynamic properties of the Xiaoxihu Yellow River Bridge. A three-dimensional finite element model of the bridge was developed and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was performed to obtain the theoretical results. To evaluate the theoretical results, a scaled model was made to conduct both static and dynamic testes in the laboratory. The experiment results are consistent with the results calculated by FEA. It is proved that FEA is an effective method to predict shear lag effect and dynamic properties of bridges of this type.