Dynamic analysis of cable-stayed bridges under a group of moving heavy vehicles

This paper presents a fully computerised approach for assembling equations of motion of any types of coupled vehicle-bridge systems. The input data about vehicles to the computer program are only the dynamic properties and the positions of rigid bodies, springs, and dampers and constraint conditions. The bridge is modelled using the conventional finite element method. The derived equations of motion of the systems are then solved by the direct integration method. The application to a real long span cable stayed bridge with a group of moving heavy vehicles demonstrates that the fully computerised approach and the associated computer program provide an efficient and convenient tool for studying the interaction problems of large complicated bridges under complex traffic now with various types of vehicles.