Goian – Cerveira Footbridge over the Miño River. Spain - Portugal

<p>The Goián - Cerveira footbridge over the Miño river, result of an international competition held in 2017, will connect the Espazo Fortaleza park in Goián-Tomiño, Spain, and the Castelinho park in Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal.</p><p>The proposed footbridge saves a main span of 265m, and is a suspended structure, with two towers located on the riverbanks, avoiding intermediate supports on the riverbed, and only one suspension cable. The towers are located not centered with the axis of the footbridge deck, that adopts a curved layout both in plan and in elevation. The curved layout in plan fits better to the footbridge arrival in both riverbanks, and improves its structural behavior. Indeed, the eccentric location of the suspension cable within the deck generates important horizontal transverse forces, that are supported by the curved deck by behaving as an arch. This configuration is also very convenient for supporting and controlling wind loads. It is a classic bridge type -suspended bridge- but with a singular configuration due to the curved layout of the deck and its arc-like behavior.</p><p>The result is a very subtle and slender structure, a “line over the Miño river”, that highly preserves the environmental values of the river and the landscape.</p>

Analysis of the umbrella-type reflector opening process on a stand with an active gravity compensation system

During the verification of the functioning of the transformed structures in ground conditions, it is necessary to minimize the effect of gravity in order to exclude the occurrence of additional loads on the hinge assemblies and opening mechanisms. To perform this task, when testing a transformable umbrella-type reflector, stands with an active gravity compensation system are used, in which the gravity compensation force is applied to each spoke of the reflector. However, when compensating for the gravity spokes of the reflector, the fixing point of the suspension cable does not coincide with the center of mass of the spoke, which leads to the appearance of additional moments of forces acting on the suspended structure. Therefore, as an object of research, a part of the reflector was considered, consisting of a spoke, with cords of a formforming structure attached to it and a mesh. A 3D model has been developed, using which the positions of the center of mass of the structure under consideration were determined in the key phases of the reflector opening. A computational analysis of the driving forces and moments acting on the structure in the process of disclosure is carried out. The degree of influence of the suspension point position on the inaccuracy of gravity compensation has been established. The results of the analysis presented in the article can be used as initial data for the development of an algorithm for the operation of an active gravity compensation system, which will be able to take into account the position of the suspension point and the center of mass of the structure relative to the axis of rotation of the spoke during the opening of the reflector, by changing the gravity compensation force.

Bridges with multiple structural systems: The example of Trilj Bridge reconstruction in Croatia

Development of multiple structural systems for bridges is useful in the design of new bridges and rehabilitation of existing bridges. This paper briefly presents some existing bridges with multiple structural systems and succinctly discusses design ideas for bridges with such systems. As an example of a bridge with multiple structural systems, the paper presents the reconstruction of a pedestrian suspension bridge in the City of Trilj, Croatia. The new bridge’s load-bearing structure is composed of several structural systems. Namely, the reconstructed bridge is a combination of suspension, cable-stayed and stress-ribbon bridge, which is laterally restrained with horizontal tensioned ropes. Numerical analysis was conducted on the renovated bridge. The results have shown an acceptable levels of stresses and deflections verifying the structural safety of the restored bridge. It is believed that this example of the bridge renovation may be useful in the design of new and strengthening of existing similar bridges.

Robust Control for the Suspension Cable System of the Unmanned Helicopter with Sensor Fault under Complex Environment

Aiming at the suspension cable system of an unmanned helicopter with sensor fault under complex environment, this paper studies the robust antiswing tolerant control scheme. To suppress the swing of the hanging load when the unmanned helicopter is in the forward flight state, a nonlinear line motion model is firstly established. Considering the sensor fault of the unmanned helicopter, a sensor fault estimator is developed. By using the fault estimator output, the robust antiswing tolerant controller is proposed using the backstepping technique and sliding mode control method. Under the designed robust antiswing tolerant controller, the desired tracking control performance can be obtained and the swing angle of the load is guaranteed small under the sensor fault. Furthermore, the closed-loop system stability is analyzed by using the Lyapunov technique. Simulation studies are given to show the efficiency of the designed robust antiswing control strategy.

Discussion of 800m Composite Bridge with CFST Flying Swallow Arch and Self-anchored Suspension Cable

In view of the demand of 800 meters Super Long Span CFST arch bridge, the composite bridge of CFST flying swallow arch and self-anchored suspension cable is proposed. The thrust of flying-bird CFST arch bridge and the tension of self-anchored suspension bridge are balanced, forming a self-balanced structure system. The arch rib structure is mainly stressed, supplemented by the self-anchored suspension system, which works together and has complementary advantages. Using the single leaf hyperboloid variable section steel tube four limb space truss arch rib structure, the self-weight of the mid span arch rib section structure is reduced, the risk of construction and hoisting of the mid span section is reduced, the section size at the arch foot is increased, the mass center and stiffness center of the arch bridge structure are effectively reduced, and the stability of the super long span concrete-filled steel tube arch bridge is increased. Combined with the actual project, the parameters are designed, the Midas finite element model is established, the internal force analysis and calculation, modal analysis and buckling analysis are carried out, and the superiority of the structural technical measures is verified.

A Cumulative Expansion Force-Finding Method for Suspension-Cable Truss Composite Structure

Suspension-cable truss composite structure is a new type of cable-strut structure which combines the conventional cable structure with the rigid truss. By laying rigid roofing slabs, this composite structure offsets most effect of the wind suction, reduces the axial force of the stable cables, and reduces the large vertical displacement effectively when compared with conventional cable trusses. For this new structure, the deformation relevance between adjacent substructures results in a nonindependent and stable union. To effectively and precisely find the cable forces of a suspension-cable truss composite structure for the construction completion state, a proper optimization order and a suitable selection of the substructures are necessary. In this paper, the structural mechanical characteristics of the suspension-cable truss composite structure are introduced at first, to reveal the force transmission path between adjacent substructures. Secondly, the cumulative expansion force-finding method (CEFM) is proposed to obtain the optimal mode of the cable force distribution with a suitable operational efficiency. A numerical example is introduced and analyzed to verify the accuracy and feasibility of this method afterwards. The results show that CEFM could find out the optimal cable force distribution of the suspension-cable truss composite structure, with a geometry shape of whole structure and a rational stress level of all the components.