Response of Aswan cable-stayed bridge to spatial non-synchronous seismic excitations

Abstract

Cable-stayed bridges are important infrastructure facilities serving the world today. Therefore, their safety against earthquake ground motions is crucial. However, due to their long spans, the affecting seismic excitations might be spatially non-synchronous. This paper presents a study of the effect of non-synchronous seismic excitations on Aswan cable-stayed bridge located at southern Egypt. Nonlinear time history analysis was conducted on a three-dimensional finite element model of the bridge. The spatial variability was represented in terms of the wave passage effect which was simulated via different delay times between the arrivals of the ground motion to bridge supports. Results indicated that spatial variability of earthquake ground motion has, in general, a favorable effect on most bridge response parameters. This is attributed to the flexibility of the overall bridge provided by the flexibility of the bridge structural system and/or by existence of seismic isolation.