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Impact assessment of excessive and undesirable deformations in cable-to-girder connections on the structural safety of the University cable-stayed bridge in Bydgoszcz (Poland)
Abstract
This article presents analyses conducted to determine the load-bearing capacity of cable-to-girder connections of a cable-stayed bridge located in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The structure was opened to traffic in 2013 and operated without incident for seven years. In 2020, excessive deformations were discovered in the zones where cables are connected to deck girders, leading the owner to close the bridge to traffic. The results of site inspections, measurements, and advanced Finite Element Method (FEM) numerical simulations are presented to comprehensively address this damage. The primary focus is on accurate prediction of the local nonlinear response of the cable-to-girder connections through numerical analyses. Validation of the numerical models is an important aspect of this paper. The conclusion drawn is that a design error was the cause of the damage. The steel plates used to build cable-to-girder connections experienced permanent plastic strains. However, this did not lead to a total loss of the structure’s load-bearing capacity. Consequently, concerns were raised regarding the necessity of closing the bridge. The deformations should have been detected earlier, but routine inspections were insufficient. It is likely that the damage had begun during cable-stay prestressing, with extreme deformations occurring during the final acceptance tests. However, these deformations did not propagate under typical service conditions. Since the bridge carries a major road, an innovative repair method is proposed to minimize the social and economic costs associated with prolonged closure.
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- Category:
- Articles
- Type:
- artykuły w czasopismach
- Published in:
-
ENGINEERING FAILURE ANALYSIS
no. 171,
ISSN: 1350-6307 - Language:
- English
- Publication year:
- 2025
- Bibliographic description:
- Sobczyk B., Pyrzowski Ł., Miśkiewicz M., Chróścielewski J., Wilde K.: Impact assessment of excessive and undesirable deformations in cable-to-girder connections on the structural safety of the University cable-stayed bridge in Bydgoszcz (Poland)// ENGINEERING FAILURE ANALYSIS -,iss. 171 (2025), s.109400-
- DOI:
- Digital Object Identifier (open in new tab) 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109400
- Sources of funding:
-
- Free publication
- Verified by:
- Gdańsk University of Technology
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