STABILITY ANALYSIS OF BOX-GIRDER CABLE-STAYED BRIDGES

By Hung-Shan Shu1 and Yang-Cheng Wang,2 Member, ASCE

ABSTRACT: The objective of this study is to investigate the stability characteristics of box-girder cable-stayed
bridges by three-dimensional finite-element methods. Cable-stayed bridges have many design parameters, be-
cause they have a lot of redundancies, especially for long-span bridges. Cable-stayed bridges exhibit several
nonlinear behaviors concurrently under normal design loads because of large displacements; the interaction
among the pylons, the stayed cables, and the bridge deck; the strong axial and lateral forces acting on the bridge
deck and pylons; and cable nonlinearity. A typical two-lane, three-span, steel box-girder cable-stayed bridge
superstructure was selected for this paper. The numerical results indicate that, if the ratio of the main span length
with respect to the total span length, L1/L, is small, the structure usually has a higher critical load. If the ratio
Ip /Ib increases, the critical load of the bridge decreases, in which Ip is the moment of inertia of the pylon and
Ib is the moment of inertia of the bridge deck. When the ratio Ip /Ib is greater than 10.0, the decrement becomes
insignificant. For cable arrangements, bridges supported by a harp-type cable arrangement are the better design
than bridges supported by a fan-type cable arrangement on buckling analysis. The numerical results also indicate
that use of either A-type or H-type pylons does not significantly affect the critical load of this type of structure.
In order to make the numerical results useful, the buckling loads have been nondimensionalized and presented
in both tabular and graphical forms.

INTRODUCTION metric nonlinearity. In addition to the axial forces, some of

Although cable-stayed bridges have been built since the
eighteenth century, they have been widely used only in the last
few decades (ASCE 1992; Xanthakos 1994). Some of the rea-
sons contributing to the delayed use of this kind of bridges
are the difficulties in their static and dynamic analyses; the
geometric nonlinearities in their behavior; the designer’s lack
of computational capacities; and the lack of constructional
techniques and quality control. The first modern cable-stayed
bridge was designed and built in Sweden and completed in
1955 (Xanthakos 1994). The bridge has spans of 74 m, 183
m, and 74 m. In recent experience, cable-stayed bridges are
suited for clear spans in the range between 120 to 600 m (Ito
1998) and have girders made of steel or prestressed concrete.
As the span length increases, the stability characteristics of
cable-stayed bridges become more important and more com-
plex.
A favorable aspect of the construction of cable-stayed
bridges is that this type of structure can be erected without
falsework in the main span, and this represents a considerable
advantage for bridges over deep canyons or waterways. Many
cable-stayed bridges have been built over famous waterways
and rivers in Europe (Capra et al. 1998), Canada, South Amer-
ica, Asia, and the United States (Modjeski and Masters 1983).
The ASCE Committee on Long-Span Steel Bridges (1988)
provides an extensive bibliography and data on cable-stayed
bridges.
Since cables instead of interval piers support cable-stayed
bridges, they are much more flexible than conventional con-
tinuous bridges, especially for long-span bridges. In view of
the characteristics of the structural supporting conditions
(Wang et al. 1993), bridge decks and pylons are subjected to
strong axial forces arising from cable reactions. The axial
forces acting on the bridge deck and pylons will cause geo-
1
Lect., Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Chinese Military Academy, Taiwan, 1
Hwang-Poo Rd., Feng-Shan, 83000, Taiwan, ROC.
2
Prof., Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Chinese Military Academy, Taiwan, 1
Hwang-Poo Rd., Feng-Shan, 83000, Taiwan, ROC. E-mail: ywang@cc.
cma.edu.tw
Note. Discussion open until July 1, 2001. To extend the closing date
one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of
Journals. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and
possible publication on September 13, 1999. This paper is part of the
Journal of Bridge Engineering, Vol. 6, No. 1, January/February, 2001.
䉷ASCE, ISSN 1084-0702/01/0001-0063–0068/$8.00 ⫹ $.50 per page.
Paper No. 21822.
JOURNAL OF BRIDGE ENGINEERING / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2001 / 63
the most important factors on stability analysis of cable-stayed
bridges are the cable nonlinearity due to its own sag, the in-
teraction between the cables and the bridge deck, and the in-
teraction between the cables and the pylons.
For stability characteristics, cable-stayed bridges include a
number of considerations such as span lengths (Simoes and
Negrao 1994), the use of concrete (Cluley and Shepherd
1996), steel or composite superstructure (Adeli and Zhang
1995); vehicular bridges (Yang and Fonder 1998), and pedes-
trian bridges (Gardner-Morse 1993); the structural behavior of
cables (Leu and Wang 1996; Walton 1996; Wang and Ermo-
polous 1997; Wang 1999a,c), pylons, and bridge deck; and
erection (Freeman 1994) and fabrication (Oh et al. 1998). Xan-
thakos (1994) stated that design of a cable-stayed bridge has
mainly to satisfy the serviceability and safety requirements in
terms of limited girder and tower deflections and limited cable,
girder, and tower stress. Because of the nonseparable nature
of the parameters, it may be difficult to isolate any single pa-
rameter and study its effect on the behavior of the bridge.
Agrawal (1997, 1998) also stated that parametric study is nec-
essary because it gives the idea of the effect of the various
parameters on forces and displacements in cable-stayed
bridges. Although the various parameters are nonseparable, at
the same time, it is not possible to incorporate the effect of all
parameters at one time.
With the use of digital technology, numerical methods, and
high strength materials, the span length of cable-stayed bridges
can be increased. The bridge deck then becomes more flexible
compared with those of conventional continuous bridges. Re-
searchers became interested in the behavior of cable-stayed
bridges as a result of their efficient use of materials and their
pleasant aesthetics (Bridge 1991). Some of the researchers an-
alyzed the behavior of cable-stayed bridges by using finite-
element methods. Many types of modeling have been reported
(Wilson 1991; Hua and Wang 1996; Wang et al. 1998). Al-
though two-dimensional finite-element models have been
widely studied, only the flexural mode has been considered.
In order to estimate the importance of the lateral and torsional
modes as well as their coupled modes for stability analysis,
three-dimensional analysis should be called upon, especially
for long-span bridges.
GEOMETRY AND LOADING
Cable-stayed bridges consist of three main parts: the pylons,
the deck, and the stayed cables. In order to investigate the
 FIG. 1. (a) Geometry of Fan-Type Cable-Stayed Bridge; (b) Geometry of Harp-Type Cable-Stayed Bridge

stability characteristics, a wide range of various dimensions TABLE 1. Parameters of Bridge Geometry and Loading Con-
and loading conditions must be studied. ditions
Ratios
Geometry
L1/L Ip /Ib H/L b/a Load Figure
There are four basic longitudinal cable configurations: harp- (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
type, fan-type, radiating-type, and star-type. Only two of these 0.5 1.0 0.2 0.5 Full load Fig. 3(a)
are considered in this paper, the harp-type and fan-type con- 0.6 2.5 0.3 1.0 Half load Fig. 3(b)
figurations. The harp-type cable arrangement has the cable par- 0.7 5.0 0.4 — Half load Fig. 3(b)
allel and spaced along the girder and the pylon, as shown in — 7.5 0.5 — Half-diagonal load Fig. 3(c)
Figure 1(a). The fan-type cable arrangement combines the ra- — 10.0 — — Half-diagonal load Fig. 3(c)
diating-type and the harp-type, as shown in Figure 1(b). The
radiating-type is a converging system where the cables inter-
sect at a common point at the top of the pylon. In the star-
type cable arrangement, the cables are placed along the pylon
and converge at a common point on the girder.
The bridges to be analyzed herein consist of three spans
supported by two pylons and 48 stayed cables, as shown in
Figure 1(a). The pylons are either A-type or H-type with ge-
ometric parameters b/a. The bridge deck is a steel box girder.
The total span length of the bridge including the main span FIG. 2. Typical Cross Section of Steel Bridge Deck
and two side spans is 460 m, which remains constant. The
main-span length L1 is considered as a design parameter pro- shell, and cable. First, the bridge deck has been modeled as
portional to the total span length. The height of the pylon from shell elements. Next, the pylons have been modeled as three-
pier top to bridge deck H1 is 30 m, which remains constant. dimensional beam elements. Each node of both shell and beam
The height of the pylon above the level of the bridge deck H elements incorporates six degrees of freedom, i.e., translation
is a variable. The length a of the lower strut is kept constant in the x, y, and z directions as well as rotation about the x, y,
at 20 m. The distance b between the tops of the two towers is and z axes. Last, the stayed cables have been modeled as ten-
one of the design variables. The moment of inertia of the sion-only elements. Therefore, if the cable element is subjected
bridge deck, Ib, is constant, while the moment of inertia of the to compressive forces, the cable stiffness will be taken as zero.
pylon, Ip, is a variable. The ratios H/L, L1/L, b/a, and Ip /Ib to In order to effectively model the structure, idealizations are
be studied are listed in Table 1. Fig. 2 represents the typical made as follows. For shell, the modulus of elasticity E is 200
cross sections of the bridge deck and the pylon. GPa; Poisson’s ratio ␯ is 0.3; and the mass density is 7,860
kg/m3. For concrete, the modulus of elasticity E is 30 GPa;
Loading Poisson’s ratio ␯ is 0.25; and the mass density is 2,320 kg/m3.
The material behavior is linearly elastic and the moduli of
Three types of loading conditions are considered: a full lane
elasticity E in tension and compression are equal. All material
load, a half lane load, and a diagonal half lane load, as shown
is originally straight.
in Fig. 3.

FINITE-ELEMENT MODEL NUMERICAL RESULTS

The bridge is discretized as a three-dimensional finite-ele- In order to investigate the stability characteristics, a wide
ment model, which includes three types of elements: beam, range of bridge parameters is considered in this paper and
64 / JOURNAL OF BRIDGE ENGINEERING / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2001
listed in Table 1. The total bridge length L remains constant
at 460 m. The moment inertia of the bridge deck Ib remains
constant. Where the ratio of b/a is zero, the pylon is A-type.
Where it is 1, the pylon is H-type.
Based on the finite-element model and the solution proce-
FIG. 3. Load Conditions
dure (Ermopoulos et al. 1992; Vlahinos et al. 1993), the crit-
ical loads are found using eigen-buckling analysis. The critical
loads with parameters b/a equal to zero, Ip /Ib equal to 0.1 and
1.0, and various H/L and L1/L under the full load conditions
are nondimensionalized and presented in the tabular form.
Table 2 lists the nondimensional critical loads of the bridge
with a harp-type cable arrangement. In order to make the nu-
merical results useful, the nondimensional critical load has
been taken as Q̄cr = (Qcr L3/EIb) where Q̄cr = numerical result
obtained by eigen-buckling analysis of the bridge; L = total
length of the bridge span; and EIb = rigidity of the bridge deck.
If the ratio of L1/L or H/L increases, the critical load decreases,
because the flexibility of the bridge deck or the pylons in-
creases. If the pylons are stiffer, the interaction of the pylons
and the bridge deck decreases.
Table 3 lists the nondimensional critical loads of the bridge
with a fan-type cable arrangement. Most of the structural char-
acteristics of the bridge with a fan-type cable arrangement are
similar to those of the bridge with a harp-type cable arrange-
ment, but the critical loads are always lower than those of the
bridge with a harp-type cable arrangement.
Fig. 4 presents the relationships of the critical load and the
ratio L1/L, in which the local buckling always occurs. Fig. 4
indicates that the critical load increases as the ratio Ip /Ib de-
creases. Where the ratio Ip /Ib reaches 1.0, the critical load is
not significantly changed. Based on Fig. 4, this type of cable-
stayed bridge with smaller ratios of Ip /Ib and L1/L is the better
design based on buckling analysis.
Fig. 5 presents the contour plot of the critical loads for the
ratio L1/L versus the ratio H/L. As the ratio L1/L increases, the
critical load decreases. Based on Fig. 5, the critical load is not
significantly changed for various H/L. In other words, the ef-
fect of the height of the pylon on buckling analysis is not
significant for this type of cable-stayed bridge.

TABLE 2. Nondimensional Critical Loads Q̄cr for b/a = 0, with Full Load, for Harp-Type Cable Arrangement
L1/L
0.5 0.6 0.7
1st buckling 2nd buckling 1st buckling 2nd buckling 1st buckling 2nd buckling
Ip /Ib H/L mode mode mode mode mode mode
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
0.10 0.10 0.0427 0.0427 0.0356 0.0356 0.0272 0.0272
0.20 0.0427 0.0427 0.0356 0.0356 0.0272 0.0272
0.30 0.0427 0.0427 0.0356 0.0356 0.0272 0.0272
0.40 0.0428 0.0428 0.0357 0.0357 0.0272 0.0272
0.50 0.0429 0.0429 0.0358 0.0358 0.0272 0.0272
10.0 0.10 0.0338 0.0338 0.0281 0.0281 0.0253 0.0253
0.20 0.0338 0.0338 0.0281 0.0281 0.0253 0.0253
0.30 0.0338 0.0338 0.0281 0.0281 0.0252 0.0252
0.40 0.0338 0.0338 0.0281 0.0281 0.0252 0.0252
0.50 0.0338 0.0338 0.0280 0.0280 0.0251 0.0251

TABLE 3. Nondimensional Critical Loads Q̄cr for b/a = 0, with Full Load, for Fan-Type Cable Arrangement
L1/L
0.5 0.6 0.7
1st buckling 2nd buckling 1st buckling 2nd buckling 1st buckling 2nd buckling
Ip /Ib H/L mode mode mode mode mode mode
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
0.10 0.10 0.0314 0.0314 0.0262 0.0262 0.0212 0.0212
0.20 0.0314 0.0314 0.0262 0.0262 0.0212 0.0212
0.30 0.0314 0.0314 0.0262 0.0262 0.0212 0.0212
0.40 0.0314 0.0314 0.0262 0.0262 0.0212 0.0212
0.50 0.0316 0.0316 0.0263 0.0263 0.0213 0.0213
10.0 0.10 0.0257 0.0257 0.0214 0.0214 0.0192 0.0192
0.20 0.0257 0.0257 0.0213 0.0213 0.0191 0.0191
0.30 0.0258 0.0258 0.0213 0.0213 0.0191 0.0191
0.40 0.0257 0.0257 0.0213 0.0213 0.9190 0.0190
0.50 0.0258 0.0258 0.0212 0.0212 0.0190 0.0190

JOURNAL OF BRIDGE ENGINEERING / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2001 / 65

 Ip /Ib. It indicates that, as the ratio Ip /Ib increases, the critical
loads decrease. In Fig. 7, the ratio H/L remains a constant 0.2
and the ratio Ip /Ib ranges from 0.4 to 0.7. As the ratio Ip /Ib
increases, the critical loads decrease. If the ratio of Ip /Ib is
greater than 1.0, the critical loads decrease only slightly. Most
bridges supported by A-type pylons have higher critical loads
than those of bridges supported by H-type pylons.
If H/L equals 0.1, the characteristics of critical load are sim-
ilar to those where H/L = 0.2. In other words, H/L has no
significant effect on buckling analysis for this type of bridge,
where H/L is less than 0.2.
Fig. 8 represents the relationship of load conditions and
types of pylons on buckling analysis. Figs. 8(a and b) present
the relationship of load conditions and types of pylon for Ip /
Ib of 0.10 and 10.0, respectively. In both figures, the bridges
with a fan-type cable arrangement under the full load condition
always have the lowest critical loads. Bridges with the harp-
FIG. 4. Critical Loads for Design Parameters Ip /Ib versus L1/L
type cable arrangement under the half diagonal load condition
have the highest critical loads. Fig. 8 also indicates that the
critical loads for the bridge with a fan-type cable arrangement
under the half load condition are almost the same as those for
the bridge with a fan-type cable arrangement under the half
diagonal load condition, for all L1/L ratios. When the ratio
Ip /Ib reaches 1.0, the critical load decreases more rapidly than
that for the bridges having the ratio Ip /Ib less than 1.0.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
1. The effect of the ratio b/a on buckling analysis for the
bridges analyzed in this paper is not significant. In other
words, use of A-type or H-type pylons on this type of
bridge on buckling analysis has no distinguishable dif-
ference.
2. The longer main span of this type of bridge with a con-
stant total length has lower critical loads. In other words,
FIG. 5. Contour Plot of Critical Loads [Q̄cr = (Qcr L 3/EIb)] Re- if the bridge has a shorter main span length, the buckling
lated to L1 /L versus H/L for Ip /Ib = R
load increases.
3. Because of the interactions among the bridge deck, the
The ratio b/a, which represents different types of pylon, has stayed cables, and the pylons, the bridge with stronger
no effect on buckling analysis of the type of bridge studied in pylons has the lower critical load. If the ratio Ip /Ib
this paper. It is the fact that, as the L1/L increases, the critical reaches 1.0, the critical load decreases rapidly. If the ratio
load decreases. If the ratio L1/L is less than 0.6, the effect of Ip /Ib is greater than 10.0, the critical load still decreases
the span ratio on buckling analysis is significant for the further but not significantly.
increment of the ratio. If it is greater than 0.6, the critical load 4. Because of the horizontal component of the cable reac-
decreases but the changes are not significant compared with tions acting on the bridge deck and the vertical compo-
those of the bridges with a small ratio L1/L. nent of the cable reactions acting on the pylon, the fan-
With the horizontal and vertical components of the cable type cable-stayed bridge always has a lower critical load
reaction acting on the bridge deck and pylons, respectively, compared with that of the harp-type bridge. In addition
the effects of the ratio Ip /Ib on buckling analysis must be in- to the aesthetics of the cable arrangements, the axial
vestigated (Vlahinos et al. 1992). Fig. 6 represents the rela- forces acting on the structural members must be consid-
tionship of the ratio b/a and the critical loads for various ratios ered, especially for long-span bridges.

FIG. 6. Nondimensional Critical Load Q̄cr versus Ratio b/a

66 / JOURNAL OF BRIDGE ENGINEERING / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2001

FIG. 7. Relationship of Load Conditions with Various Types of Pylon: (a) b/a = 1.0; H/L = 0.2; R = 0.10; (b) b/a = 1.0; H/L = 0.2; R = 10.0

FIG. 8. Relationship of Ratio b/a versus Critical Load for Various Ratios Ip /Ib: (a) L1/L = 0.5; H/L = 0.2; (b) L1/L = 0.6; H/L = 0.2; (c) L1/L
= 0.7; H/L = 0.2

JOURNAL OF BRIDGE ENGINEERING / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2001 / 67

 5. Bridges under the full load conditions always have the
lowest critical load, especially for fan-type bridges. If the
different cable arrangements are associated with the load
conditions, the fan-type bridges under the full lane load
condition still have the lowest critical loads but other
combinations of design variables also need to be inves-
tigated.
6. Cable-stayed bridges involve strong nonlinearities. They
also involve many design parameters, and it is impossi-
ble to investigate all of them concurrently.
APPENDIX I. REFERENCES
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Bridge Engrg., ASCE, 2(2), 61–67.
Agrawal, T. P. (1998). ‘‘Closure to ‘Cable-stayed bridges—Parametric
study,’ by T. P. Agrawal.’’ J. Bridge Engrg., ASCE, 3(3), 150.
ASCE Committee on Cable-Stayed Bridges. (1992). Guidelines for the
design of cable-stayed bridges, ASCE, New York.
ASCE Committee on Long-Span Steel Bridges. (1988). ‘‘Bibliography
and data on cable-stayed bridges.’’ J. Struct. Div., ASCE, 103(10),
1971–2004.
Bridge aesthetics around the world. (1991). Transportation Research
Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C.
Capra, A., and Leveille, A. (1998). ‘‘Vasco da Gama Bridge, Portugal.’’
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Cluley, N. C., and Shepherd, R. (1996). ‘‘Analysis of concrete cable-
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Structural drawings of Quincy Bayview Bridge. (1983). Modjeski and
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APPENDIX II. NOTATION
The following symbols are used in this paper:
a = length of lower strut;
b = distance between tops of two towers;
E = modulus of elasticity;
EIb = rigidity of bridge deck;
H = height of pylon from bridge deck to top of pylon;
H1 = height of pylon from pier top to bridge deck;
Ib = moment of inertia of bridge deck;
Ip = moment of inertia of pylon;
L = total span length of cable-stayed bridge;
L1 = main span length of cable-stayed bridge;
Q̄cr = nondimensional critical load; and
␯ = Poisson’s ratio.