Numerical simulation study of self-anchored suspension bridge coated with polyurea concrete under the effect of near-field explosion

To study the protective effect of polyurea coating on the weakest position of the super-wide concrete self-anchored suspension bridge under the near-field blast loading, a real super-wide concrete self-anchored suspension bridge was selected as the background, and the numerical simulation was used to analyze the damage characteristics and dynamic response of the bridge under the blast loading. The finite element model of the whole bridge was established by using SOLIDWORKS and HYPERMESH, and the dynamic response of the bridge under different explosive equivalents and different lateral and longitudinal blast positions and different polyurea thicknesses was analyzed parametrically by LS-DYNA, and the damage characteristics of the whole bridge and the vertical displacement of the bottom plate before and after the coating of polyurea under the blast loading were compared. The results show that polyurea coating can effectively improve the blast resistance of concrete self-anchored suspension bridges. For different explosion positions in the lateral and longitudinal directions, the weakest positions are the middle box girder and 1/2 span, respectively. For different polyurea thicknesses, tand the optimal polyurea thicknesses for the weakest positions in the lateral and longitudinal directions are 8mm and 15mm, respectively. The research results can provide important references for the wartime reinforcement and protection of super-wide concrete self-anchored suspension bridges. © 2025 Chinese Vibration Engineering Society. All rights reserved.