Dynamic interaction of cable supported bridges with traffic loads including the effect of an accidental failure in the cable system

The main aim of the paper is to analyze the dynamic response of cable supported bridges under the action of traffic loading. The dynamic behavior of cable supported structures is also analyzed including the effect of an accidental brakeage of the cable system. The bridge model is based on a finite element approach, in which a refined schematization is adopted to analyze the interaction behavior between cable system and moving loads with bridge vibrations. The cable system is analyzed by using an improved formulation of the cable system, in which local vibration of the stays are taken into account. Moreover, the analysis focuses at-tention on the influence of the inertial characteristics of the moving loads, by accounting coupling effects aris-ing from the interaction behavior between bridge deformations and moving system parameters. Sensitivity analyses in terms of dynamic impact factors with reference to cable-stayed configurations have been proposed. In particular, the effects produced by the external mass of the moving system as well as the influence of an ac-cidental breakage in the cable system due to traffic loads on the dynamic bridge behavior are discussed.