Analysis of Traffic-Induced Vibrations in a Cable-Stayed Bridge. Part II: Numerical Modeling and Stochastic Simulation

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a numerical model to simulate the dynamic response of the bridge–vehicle system of Salgueiro Maia cable-stayed bridge, using the results from an extensive experimental investigation to calibrate this model. Further, a set of stochastic Monte Carlo simulations of the bridge–vehicle dynamic response is also presented, with the purpose of evaluating dynamic amplification factors, taking into account the randomness of different factors associated to characteristics of the pavement, of the vehicles and of the traffic flow.