Study on effects of environmental temperature on dynamic characteristics of Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge

The dynamic characteristics of three-tower and two-span suspension bridge are analyzed at different global temperatures. An equivalent cable inner force method is proposed to consider temperature effects and to study the effects of environmental temperature on dynamic characteristics of Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge. The result demonstrates that the effects of temperature can not be neglected in static or dynamic analysis of Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge. The relationship between temperature and frequency is negative. The effects of temperature should be taken into account in experimental modal analysis of long-span bridges and damage identification.

Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge——The first kilometer level three-pylon two-span suspension bridge in the world

Taizhou Bridge, located at the middle of Jiangsu Province, connecting Taizhou City and Zhenjiang City, started in Dec. 2007. The bridge is the first kilometer level three-pylon suspension bridge in the world, and it adopts longitudinal herringbone shape steel middle pylon for the first time in the world. The foundation of the middle tower is the deepest underwater caisson in soil on earth. A great many of technical innovations such as the design techniques of three-pylon suspension bridge,precisely locating and bottom-sealing techniques of the large scale caisson foundation, manufacturing, combination techniques of steel and concrete in the middle tower, welding of extra thick steel plate, manufacture and control techniques of abnormal sections of the middle tower and so on were introduced.

Construction and alignment control of the middle steel pylon of Taizhou Bridge

The general construction procedure of the steel middle pylon is briefly introduced. The alignment control of the pylon is carried out during the whole process of the construction. The control concept is extended to the manufacture stage. The manufacturing alignment error is strictly controlled in the segments precast process in factory, and the error is recognized and predicted precisely during the installation stage. The adjusting joints are employed to amend the accumulated error, which ensure that the steel pylon alignment could satisfy the precision requirements after installation.

Introduction to steel pylon hoisting of Taizhou Yangtze Bridge

Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge is the first three-pylon two-span suspension bridge in the world. The middle pylon adopts deep water caisson foundation. The superstructure of the middle pylon employs herringbone shape along the bridge, and portal shape in the transverse direction for the first time in China. In this paper, the basic construction procedure, equipment, construction steps, the key construction technologies and methods of steel pylon are introduced.

On-site tests to estimate aquifer permeability of drainage area of south caisson anchorage construction of Taizhou Bridge

During the construction of the south caisson anchorage of Taizhou Bridge, the drainage area is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the permeability of stratums there is considerable. In order to maintain progress and guarantee safety during the sinking of the caisson, water should be drained in the initial period. Subsequently, detailed information about the aquifer permeability is required to make sure that the drainage will proceed successfully, which consequently necessitates the on-site estimation of the aquifer permeability in the drainage area. Therefore, the traditional pumping test and slug test are implemented respectively on site. The comparison of computational results of these two tests indicates that they are consistent overall. Notwithstanding, as slug test can be conducted with portable facilities in a short time and the manipulation is easy and few people need to be involved, the advantages of slug test is conspicuous compared with the traditional pumping test. It could be speculated that slug test will gain a prevalent application in the measurement of aquifer permeability in the future.

Risk assessment study on bridge foundation in deep overlying stratum

Based on the analysis about the hydrogeological conditions and engineering geological conditions, this paper makes analysis on the possible risks of the deep overlying stratum foundation and establishes the risk evaluation index system during the foundation operating period. Such methods as analytic hierarchy process （AHP） , Delphi method and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method are adopted to make the quantitative analysis on the risk factors and establish the risk judgment model. According to the actual engineering of Taizhou Bridge, the paper evaluates the risk of the foundation during the operating period at the condition of deep overlying stratum. The evaluation results can provide the reference for the risk management of the bridge foundation durin~ the ooerating period.

Energy conservation research of dehumidification system for main cable anticorrosion of suspension bridge

The necessity of the main cable anticorrosion for suspension bridge is described, and operating principles and composition of main cable dehumidification system are analyzed. An idea using the waste heat of high temperature outlet air of dehumidification system to heat up regeneration air of rotary-type dehumidifier is put forward in this paper. The concrete scheme is to install a heat exchanger on air-out pipeline of roots blower and air-in pipeline of regeneration electric heater of rotary dehumidifier. Air preheated by the heat exchanger enters regeneration electric heater of rotary-type dehumidifier. Energy conservation of main cable dehumidification system for the Yangtze River highway bridge is calculated, and the results show that energy conservation rate can reach 44 %.

Research on key technologies in design of middle pylon of Taizhou Bridge

At the middle pylon of a three-pylon two-span suspension bridge, the effect of unbalanced loads on the adjacent spans may result in a series of technical bottlenecks in design, such as stability and anti-slippage between saddles and main cables. This article presents the researches conducted on structure selection and behavior characteristics of middle pylon, interaction mechanism between main cables and saddles and their anti-slippage safety performance, elastic and plastic stability analysis and safety assessment of steel middle pylon, and fatigue design load and method for steel pylon of Taizhou Bridge. According to the research results, a longitudinal inverted Y shape steel middle pylon is used in design, effectively solving many technical difficulties, and this type of pylon has become a suitable middle pylon structural form for many three-ovlon two-soan susoension bridges.

Research on parametric modeling and computing of multi-tower suspension bridge based on ANSYS

Based on FEM (finite element method) program ANSYS and the OpenGL graphics, this paper develops the parametric modeling module and the computing module of the multi-tower suspension bridge, the modules being embedded into the ANSYS system, and the parametric modeling module parameters can be entered by way of interface, which can fast establish a multi-tower suspension bridge model. Calculation module can establish load conditions for the features of road bridge and specifications, in which multiple conditions can be defined and solved automatically. Post-processing part of the solution also serves the results of the subtotals and selects the output, so that the results of the output and finishing work have become more convenient and easier, and also the results can be saved in word, excel and other different file types.

Numerical analysis on bearing capacity of middle pylon caisson foundation of Taizhou Bridge

Because of the computation difficulty of the beating capacity of large underwater caisson foundation on thick overburden layer ground, the geotechnieal software FLAC3D was utilized in the 3D numerical analysis on the bearing capacity of middle pylon foundation. From the computational results, it is concluded that the caisson foundation has a good bearing capacity on thick overburden layer ground and the beating capacity can be improved assuming that the soil near the area of basal comer is reinforced.

The study of temperature effects on steel box girder for Taizhou Bridge

Using the temperature gradient which was proposed by continuously measuring flat steel box girder of Runyang Bridge, temperature effects of flat steel box girder were studied for Taizhou Bridge. With three temperature gradient models （JTG D60--2004 specification, BS5400 specification and the temperature gradient which was proposed in this paper）, the stress of control sections was calculated by finite element program ANSYS. The calculated result indicated that the temperature gradient that was put forward in JTG D60-2004 specification and BS5400 specification for calculating the stress of fiat steel box girder was not suitable to apply to fiat steel box girder. The temperature gradient on flat steel box girder which was proposed in this paper was reasonable.

The mechanical response of multi-tower continuous-span suspension bridge deck pavement based on whole bridge analysis

The effect of multiple span suspension structure on the mechanical response of bridge deck pavement was studied, and finite element analysis (FEM) of stress and strain of pavement according to the bridge floor system features of super-long and high flexibility was made. Meanwhile, the FEM results were compared with those of the single span suspension structure. Three-stage analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is developed to analyze the mechanical response including whole bridge analysis, partial beams section analysis and orthotropic plate analysis. The most unfavorable load position was determined by the numerical solutions acquired from each stage to study the main mechanical index of multiple span suspension structure. The FEM results showed that the mechanical response numerical solutions by using the three-stage AHP are greater than those by simplified boundary condition, and the force condition of multiple span suspension structure is worse than that of the single span suspension structure.

Research on overall assembling and welding process of steel box girder tuyere blocks of Taizhou Bridge

This article presents in detail the assembling and welding process technique of the steel box girder tuyere blocks of Taizhou Bridge. The application of this process technique effectively solves the problem of welding stress release in tuyere block assembling and welding without increasing the number of turns of the blocks and overhead welding, thus avoiding possible structural deformation due to excessive accumulation of internal welding stress, greatly reducing the repeated deformation and correction work during assembling and welding, and ensuring the weld seam quality and overall dimensions of tuvere blocks of Taizhou Bridze.

Research on subsidence method aided by water injection and its engineering application for the north anchor of Taizhou Bridge

The north anchorage caisson of Taizhou Bridge encountered some difficulties during the sinking process for the large sidewall frictional resistances. To solve this problem, a new concept and method called subsidence method aided by water injection is proposed. Numeral analysis is adopted to simulate the effects of this method for the north anchor of Taizhou Bridge, which confirmed the feasibility and validity. Finally, the method is applied to the north anchor caisson during the caisson sinking procedure and helps the caisson sink and embed to the designed position smoothly.

Research on the influence of the fly ash on the concrete carbonation

The influence of fly ash on the fresh properties, mechanical properties and carbonation properties were studied in this paper. The performance of a kind of curing agent which was applied to the hardened concrete surface was evaluated. Incorporating large volume of fly ash will risk the concrete carbonation. The curing agent could prevent the concrete carbonation, and the mechanism was explained.

Vibration mechanism research of large-scale and deep-water caisson

According to the construction method of Taizhou Bridge, numerical simulation is conducted to analyze the vibration of caisson under wind and water flows to determine the main factors of the caisson vibration. Meanwhile, the localization system of caissons and anchors of Taizhou Bridge is modeled in order to summarize the vibration mechanism of caissons under deep-water and jet-flow condition, and further pertinent vibration-control measures are proposed. The obtained results are well verified in engineering practice, and consequently the safety risk of positioning the caisson is reduced.

Analysis of structural hot-spot stress in orthotropic plates

On the basis of the actual steel deck structure of Taizhou Bridge, this paper carries out hot-spot stress analysis on some key spots by using the finite element model which simulates local structure of orthotropic steel bridge decks. A finite element model is established for local structure of orthotropic steel bridge decks, and in the analysis of linear elasticity of the structure, face load is employed to simulate the loads from vehicle wheels. Analysis results show that main stresses are relatively heavy at the joints between diaphragm plates, top plates and U-shaped ribs and the joints between diaphragm plates and U-shaped ribs. These joints shall be regarded as key points for hot-spot stress analysis. Different mesh densities are adopted in the finite element model and the main stresses at different hot spots are contrasted and linear extrapolation is carried out using extrapolation formulae. Results show that different mesh densities have different influences on the hot-spot stresses at the welded seams of U-shaped ribs. These influences shall be considered in calculation and analysis.

Anti-slip security assessment between main cable and saddle of the middle pylon under extreme vehicle loads

The traffic condition of Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge is obtained to a certain extent, according to the traffic investigation nearby Taizhou Bridge. The statistical characteristics of the traffic conditions are acquired by statistical analysis. Simulation of the extreme vehicle loads and the sensitive analysis of load parameters are carried out based on these data complemented, which would guide the determination of the frictional coefficient between the main cables and the saddle.