Optimum design of concrete cable-stayed bridges

Abstract

The design of cable-stayed bridges involves a significant number of design variables and design objectives. The concrete cable-stayed bridge optimization is formulated here as a multi-objective optimization problem with objectives of minimum cost, minimum deflections and minimum stresses. A numerical method is developed to obtain the optimum design of such structures. This numerical method includes: structural analysis, sensitivity analysis and optimization. The structural analysis accounts for all the relevant effects (concrete time-dependent effects, construction stages and geometrical nonlinear effects). The structural response to changes in the design variables is achieved by a discrete direct sensitivity analysis procedure, and an entropy-based approach was used for structural optimization. The features and applicability of the proposed method are demonstrated by numerical examples concerning the optimization of a real-sized concrete cable-stayed bridge.

Keywords:

• structural optimization
• concrete cable-stayed bridges
• cable forces
• cross-sectional design variables
• time-dependent effects
• construction stages

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Alberto M.B. Martins http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2951-9853