The Assessment Method of Safety Performance of Cable-Stayed Bridge under Multi-Hazard Based on Structure Vulnerability

Abstract

It is uneconomical to design the bridge against the extreme disasters than necessary. The objective of this paper is to present a direct method for evaluating the unforeseen hazards: the number of members "removed" from a structure in a brittle condition. The tool selected for assessing this severe demand is the reduction in the stiffness of the components of structure. A typical cable-stayed bridge is analyzed based on this method. It is analyzed based on component stiffness combined with sensitivity analysis. The importance index of structural components and the rate of change of importance indices was given. These indices can be used as reference indices to assess the structure vulnerability. The weak parts in structure can be explored. Depending on this method, the assessment of the cable-stayed bridge is intended to identify those bridges that are systematical deficient under multi-hazard and establish an order of priorities for retrofit.