An energy approach for geometrically non-linear analysis of cable-stayed bridges

An energy approach for geometrically non-linear analysis of cable-stayed bridges is presented in this paper. The potential energy of the whole bridge, including the bridge deck, stay cables and pylons, and work done by external loads are considered in the development of the bridge energy equation. The sources of geometric non-linearity, such as the cable sag and the axial force–bending moment interaction in the bridge deck and in the pylons, are taken into account in the analysis. An iterative procedure, which has a high convergence rate for solving the problem, is developed. The proposed energy method is sufficient and simple to use. The predictions of the method show good agreement with experimental results.