Influence of Cable Failure Mechanisms on the Dynamic Behavior of Cable Stayed Bridges

An analysis on the effects produced by failure mechanisms in the cable system is proposed to investigate the behavior of cable-stayed bridges. In particular, the present paper aims to verify the influence on the bridge behavior of accidental breakages produced in the cable system elements also in light of existing design guidelines available from the literature. In the present paper, the numerical model is based on a refined description of the bridge, which involves bridge constituents and external loads. In particular, a geometric nonlinear formulation in which the effects of local vibrations in the stays and large displacements in girder and pylons are taken into account. Moreover, damage effects are simulated by using an accurate description of the release effects produced by the cable-breakage processes. The results denote that several parameters associated with cable-breakage processes, such as the breakage duration, time-transient curve and external load description, are found to influence the dynamic performance of the bridge.