First International Seminar on “Structural steel for Civil Construction” ToSE-Nepal Vol.

II

DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF LONG SPAN CABLE STAYED

BRIDGE TO NEAR FIELD GROUND MOTIONS
Bipin Shrestha1, Dr. Roshan Tuladhar1, Jagat Kumar Shrestha1

1.
Pulchowk campus, Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan university

Abstract: This paper presents the analytical study on seismic response of the long span cable-
stayed bridge to two of the major aspects of near field ground motion, namely
vertical acceleration and forward directivity. Measurement of ground motion during
the recent earthquakes indicates that the vertical acceleration can reach values
comparable to horizontal acceleration or may even exceed these accelerations. Also
field observation proved that many structures and bridges experience significant
damage attributable to high vertical forces. The unique high amplitude and short to
medium duration pulse that is a common characteristic of near fault ground motions
caused due to the Forward directivity has generated attention due to the severity of
damage these motions have caused in densely populated urban environments. In this
study the relative importance of the vertical ground motion on the response of long
span cable-stayed bridge is investigated. Study also tries to identify the effect of the
velocity pulses on the response of steel tower of the cable stayed bridge. The results
indicate that the vertical ground motion will have slight effect on the axial response
of the cable and tower of the cable-stayed bridge, whereas it is identified that
forward directivity ground motion could have damaging effect when velocity pulses
are tuned with natural period of the Steel tower of the bridge.

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1. INTRODUCTION
In the analysis and design of earthquake resistant structures, and particularly bridge structures, the
vertical ground motion component tends, in general, to be ignored or underestimated in current seismic
structures analysis, since it is retained that most of the damage is due to the horizontal component, and
that the vertical acceleration is small. The current seismic codes recommend a vertical spectrum with
values, which vary from half to two third of that of the horizontal spectra. This approach seems to be un-
conservative in light of measurements of ground motion during recent earthquakes, which indicate that
the vertical acceleration could reach values even higher than that of the horizontal acceleration.
Moreover, in a near field region, the peak of vertical to horizontal spectral ratio is even larger than the
ratio of the peak ground acceleration, especially at short periods (Li Xinle, Dou Huijuan, Zhu Xi 2007,
Bozorgnia, Niazi and Campbell 1996). Also field observations proved that many structures and bridges
experienced significant damage attributable to high vertical forces (Papazoglou and Elnashi 1996). At the
moment, there exist some investigation on the vertical response of traditional highway bridges
(Saadeghavaziri and Foutch 1991, Kunnath and Abrahamson et al. 2008), but specific studies on the
cable stayed bridges are inexistent (Valdebinito and Aparicio 2006).

The unique high amplitude and short to medium duration pulse that is a common characteristic of near
fault ground motions has generated attention due to the severity of damage these motions have caused in
densely populated urban environments. Ground motions having such a distinct pulse-like character arise
in general at the beginning of the seismogram, and their effects tend to increase the long-period portion of
the acceleration response spectrum (Galesorkhi and Gouchon 2000) .These types of ground motions may
generate high demands that force the structures to dissipate this input energy with few large displacement
excursions. Consequently, the risk of brittle failure for poorly detailed system is considerably enhanced
(Manfredi et al. 2000). Since a number of near fault ground motions have been recorded only in recent
years, effects of these motions on structures are not clearly understood. Past research has dealt on
response of reinforced concrete bridge columns analytically (Rodriguez-Marek and Cofer 2007) and
experimentally (Phan and Saiidi et al. 2005, Orozoco and Ashford 2002), but specific studies on the cable
stayed bridge is lacking.

2. VERTICAL MOTION
In general practice only two horizontal components have been almost always involved in spectral
response computations. This routine is mainly driven by the common perception, which has been long
established considering far-fault earthquake recordings, that structures have sufficient over strength
against the vertical component since they have already been designed for the gravitational acceleration. In
fact, the importance of vertical component of ground motion in design and performance assessment was
addressed long ago (Chopra 1966) .Yet, it received more attention just after the earthquakes in the last 15
years, which provided plethora of data in the near field of earthquake source having significantly higher
vertical acceleration than its horizontal counterparts (Kalkan and Gulkan 2004, Kalkan and Graizer
2007). Such near-fault data has eventually changed the misleading assumption that the vertical ground
motion can be taken to be two-thirds of the horizontal motion, as postulated earlier (Newmark et al
1973). At short periods and near-source distances, vertical component of the ground motion may be
noticeably more severe than the horizontal component. A remarkable field evidence of this fact was
found in the recent past, during the 1995 Kobe earthquake, when ground vertical acceleration
experienced little attenuation from rock-outcrop to the ground surface, as opposed to the horizontal ones,
even in potentially liquefiable soils. As a consequence, high vertical seismic inputs to structures were
observed, and unusual failures of vertical structural members occurred (Papazoglou and Elnashi 1996).

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First International Seminar on “Structural steel for Civil Construction” ToSE-Nepal Vol.II

Another example of intense vertical acceleration was observed during the aftershock of 1985 Nahanni
earthquake in Canada. The aftershock (Ms = 6.9) created a peak horizontal acceleration of 1.25g at a
station located 8–10 km of the rupture. The peak vertical acceleration (recorded by an analog type
accelerograph, SMA-1) got off-scale and exceeded 2.00g (Weichert et al. 1986).

Generally, high frequency containing vertical ground motion attenuates more rapidly than the horizontal
motion and the vertical motions are evident in the near earthquake field. In fact it has been observed that
the vertical to horizontal peak ground acceleration ratio tends to assume greater value in the near field
and to decrease as the epicenter distance increase (Elnashi and papazoglou 1997). Vertical component
may be more dangerous as its predominant frequencies may be close to the vertical frequencies of free
vibration of many structures. There are lots of records of instrumented structures especially from 1994
Northridge, and 1995 Kobe, which show great amplification of the vertical ground motion (Papazoglou
and Elnashi, 1996). In this research an attempt is made to fully understand the detrimental effects of
vertical acceleration relative to the horizontal ground motion on the long span cable-stayed bridge.

3. FORWARD DIRECTIVITY EFFECTS

In the 1994 Northridge and 1995 Kobe earthquakes, Peak ground velocity as high as 175 cm/s were
observed. During Chi-Chi quake peak ground velocity at TCU 068 station was observed to be 280.2 cm/s
and the period of near fault pulse lies in the range of 1 to 2 second, comparable to the natural period of
structures such as bridge and mid-rise building, many of which suffer severe damage.

The effect of forward rupture directivity ground motion (FDGM) on the response spectrum is to increase
the level of the response spectrum of the horizontal components normal to faults strike at periods longer
than 0.5 seconds. Near fault effects are not adequately described by the uniform scaling of a fixed
response spectrum, the spectrum becomes richer in long period as the level of the spectrum increases
(Kalkan and Kunnath 2005).

Directivity effects can be classified as forward, reverse, and neutral. Forward directivity is when the
direction of the rupture propagates toward the site, while reverse directivity is when the rupture
progresses away from the site. Neutral directivity is when the site is perpendicular to the ruptured fault.
Within the research community, the term “directivity effects” has come to mean “forward directivity
effects” because forward directivity is more likely to be responsible for the ground motions that cause
damage. Figure.1 portrays the three zones of directivity with the star representing the epicenter and the
black line indicating the fault. Ground motions that are influenced by forward-directivity effects can be
very damaging to structures.

Forward-directivity effects are seen when the rupture direction is aligned with the direction of slip, and
the rupture front moves towards a given site (Bray and Rodriguez-Marek 2004). FDGMs typically
contain very few short to medium period, high intensity ground motion pulses that are best observed in
velocity time histories. Due to the radiation pattern of the fault, these pulses are typically aligned with the
fault normal direction. However, strong pulses may be present in the fault parallel direction as well (Bray
and Rodriguez-Marek 2004).These motions typically have a short to medium duration with amplitudes
larger than those of generic motions, and with a strong preferential fault-normal orientation.

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Figure 1 Zones of directivity

Although forward directivity poses a significant threat to structures, this threat is not equal for all
structures. For example, coincidence of the structure period and pulse period intuitively leads to
the largest structural response for a given earthquake. However, the period of the structure and
the pulse period can vary significantly.

Failures of modern engineered structures observed within the near-fault region in1994 Northridge, 1995
Kobe earthquake revealed the vulnerability of long period structure (bridges and buildings) against pulse-
type ground motions. Additionally, strong directivity effects during the 1999 Kocaeli, Duzce, and Chi-
Chi earthquakes renewed attention on the consequences of near-fault ground motions on structures. An
attempt has been made here to compare the response of the cable stayed bridge to FDGM with the non
FDGM which might be helpful for further researches.

4. MODELLING OF THE BRIDGE

Description of the bridge:

Karnali cable stayed bridge is the first and till date only cable-stayed bridge in Nepal. The bridge site is
located about 500 Km west of Kathmandu and 100 km west of Nepalgunj. The Karnali Bridge is a key
structure connecting western Tarei plains of Nepal with rest of the country. Moreover, it also serves as
link to reach many western mountains of the country. Currently it is the 91th largest cable stayed bridge
in the world with main span of 325m.

The bridge has single Tower and two spans comprising of a main span of 325m and a side span of 175m.
The cables are arranged in two vertical planes with 30 cables in each plane. A modified fan configuration
has been adopted for the cables. The stay cables are made of polyethylene sheathed strands composed of
7 mm diameter galvanized wires. A composite girder, consisting of 228 mm concrete slab over 3m deep
steel truss, has been used. The Tower consists of a hollow stiffened steel section with a height of 120m
above the bridge deck. The roadway is 11.3 wide, with two traffic lanes.

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The Karnali cable-stayed bridge was designed by Steinman Boynton Gronquist and Birdsall, Newyork
and the construction was completed by Kawasaki heavy labs of Japan in 1993.

Finite element model of the bridge:

A 3-D FEM of the Karnali cable-stayed bridge was developed using SAP2000 structural analysis
software, as shown in Fig. 2 the Bridge is modeled based on the geometries and material data from as-
built drawings. The FEM employed frame elements for steel girders, floor beams and the center strut
connecting any two adjacent floor beams. The main components of the bridge towers and pier were
represented by non-prismatic frame elements. The 228 mm thick precast concrete panel/slab supported by
the steel girders was modeled with shell elements. In the model, cables were modeled using a straight
chord element. Sagging of the inclined cables is considered using equivalent modulus of elasticity as
suggested by Ernst (1965).
(1)

Where Eeq= equivalent elastic modulus of inclined cable: E= cable material elastic modulus, l=
horizontal projected length of the cable, w= weight per unit length of the cable: T= tension at dead load.
A full 3-D model was hence developed using 1005 joints,2006 frame elements, 495 shell elements, and 2
rigid link,4 solid elements for a total of 5995 degrees of freedom. For a detailed description of the model
refer Shrestha (2009).

5. INPUT GROUND MOTIONS

For time history simulation five strong near field ground motion with varying vertical to horizontal (V/H)
ratio of the Peak ground acceleration (PGA) was selected. All time histories were recorded within the 15
km of the causative fault. During the selection adequate care was taken so the horizontal acceleration of
all the selected ground motion nearly represents same levels of shaking in terms of PGA, whereas the
vertical acceleration varies largely. Intention behind such selection was to quantify the effect of different
level of vertical acceleration and velocity pulses within the similar range of horizontal PGA. Two out of
the selected five ground motion contains the directivity effects (pulse like velocity waves). To find out
the effect of the velocity pulses on cable stayed bridge the response of the structure to ground motion
containing the velocity pulses were compared with remaining three ground motion history without any
velocity pulses (directivity effect).

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Figure 2 Finite element model of cable stayed bridge

Figure 3 Schematic drawing of cable stayed bridge

No Event Mw station PGA- PGA- PGA- V/H

X(g) Y(g) up(g)
1 Gazli, Uzbekistan1976 6.8 Karakyr 0.71 0.63 1.34 1.89
2 Loma-Prieta, USA1989 6.9 LGPC 0.56 0.61 0.89 1.47

3 Landers, USA 1992 7.3 Landers 0.68 0.70 0.66 0.94

4 Kobe, Japan 1995 6.9 Nishi-Akashi 0.51 0.50 0.37 0.73

5 Kobe, Japan 1995 6.9 J R Takatori 0.61 0.61 0.24 0.39

Table 1 Ground motion considered for the seismic study

Predominant frequency (Hz)

No Event
X Y Up

1 Gazli, Uzbekistan 1976 1.93 1.41 5.42

2 Loma-Prieta, USA1989 1.59 1.64 3.66
3 Landers, USA 1992 13.24 11.41 9.43
4 Nishi-Akashi, Kobe 1995 2.07 1.33 3.51

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5 J R Takatori, Kobe 1995 0.81 0.83 7.96

Table 2 Predominant Frequency of the Ground motion

Velocity Pulse period of FDGM:

Figure 4 illustrates the velocity time history of Fault Normal direction of Lomaprieta and JR Takatori
respectively. The Velocity pulse period for Lomaprieta and J R Takatori is found to be 2.56secs and
1.5secs respectively. Although consisting only of a few cycles, the pulses can impose large inelastic drift
on structures, resulting in significant permanent deformations.

Figure 4 Velocity time history of Lomaprieta (PGV 94.72 cm/s, pulse period 2.56sec) and JR Takatori
(PGV 127.19 cm/s,pulse period 1.5 sec) respectively from top

6. NUMERICAL ANALYSIS:
Initial equilibrium configuration:
The Initial equilibrium condition of cable-stayed bridges is the equilibrium condition due to dead load
and tension forces in the cables. The Subsequent modal analysis and nonlinear time history analysis
should start by considering dead load deformed equilibrium condition.

In this study the dead load deformed equilibrium condition of the finite element model, the final
displacement of the deck should be identical to the as built drawing of the bridge. This was realized by
manipulating the initial tension force in each stay cable elements. The design cable tensions were first
applied to the each cable and the static nonlinear analysis under dead load is carried out to compare the
calculated deck alignment with the measured deck alignment. The cable tensions then were adjusted until
the best match was achieved. Achieving the deformed equilibrium configuration due to dead load was
indeed one of the most difficult tasks involving multiple trial and errors. The adjustment of each cable
tension found by the analysis seemed to differ by as much as 20% than the design cable tension (Shrestha
2009).

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Figure 5 Comparison of deck Alignment (As built Vs Calculated)

Natural Vibration Analysis:

Modal analysis of the cable-stayed bridge was performed to determine the natural response. Four
different types of modes were observed namely; Deck lateral bending and torsion modes, Deck vertical
bending mode, Cable local modes and Tower and pier dominated modes. Fundamental period of the
bridge was calculated to be 3.736 sec and was deck transverse (lateral bending) mode. Fundamental
period of Steel tower is found to be 1.66 sec which was in lateral direction. 600 Natural modes up to
50.80 Hz is calculated which was sufficient to represent More than 90% of modal mass participation in
horizontal directions. But modal mass participation in vertical direction was just below 90%.
Fundamental period of each stay cable was calculated using the multi cable element discretization and
verified with analytical equation given by Ren et al (2005).

Seismic response Analysis:

i) Damping &Numerical Integration Scheme:
In this study it was assumed that the effective viscous damping of the overall system is equal to 3% at the
period of 0.1 sec and at 3.75sec. This damping characteristic was believed to adequately reflect the light
damping of the Cable supported bridge system. The Newmark’s step by step integration method was used
for the integration of equation of motion. The Newmark’s β, constant acceleration scheme for the solution
of the differential equation of motion was considered in this study with β equal to 0.25 and second
numerical parameter γ set as 0.5 to avoid superfluous damping and period elongation in the system.

ii) Seismic response simulation:

A series of linear modal time-history analyses were carried out on the bridge to investigate the effect of
vertical acceleration on the behavior of the structure. The analyses were carried out for five ground
motions listed in this report. Bur first, the applicability of the linear modal time-history was checked by
comparing their result with a fully geometrically nonlinear direct-integration analysis that includes the
consideration of large displacements.

Nonlinear time history analysis, despite being the most reliable tool to determine the seismic demands on
structures under a given ground motion, is not suitable for design purposes. First of all, it is a rather time
consuming and with such intricate model as this, runtime required for computer is tremendous and it also
involves procedure requiring a comprehensive understanding of nonlinear behavior. The literatures
reviewed, showed that similar type of cable-stayed bridges did not require consideration of large
displacements to obtain accurate results (Morales brignac 2005, Ren 1999 , Fleming 1980, Nazmy
1990).

For the Nonlinear time-history analysis ground motion of Gazli, Uzbekistan1976 (with three ground
motion component) is selected since it not only represents the strongest shaking in terms of PGA; it is
also the shortest one with the duration of 13.5 second. For the easy interpretation of result both curves
(from linear modal analysis and nonlinear analysis) are plotted in a single graph and starting point for

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response has been made coincide. Results indicated similar response between the analyses types;
therefore, linear modal time-history is acceptable and large displacement consideration is unnecessary
(Figure 6.).

Figure 6 Comparison of Axial force time history of Cable 20

Effects of Vertical component of ground motion:

The simulations were then carried out in two stages, in the first stage the cable-stayed bridge was
subjected to only the horizontal accelerations (H) whereas in the second stage combined horizontal and
vertical (H+V) components of the near fault ground motion was applied to evaluate the effect of vertical
ground motion in this bridge. For the simulation purpose linear modal time-history analysis was adopted.
The study concentrated on the axial response of the selected cables and the tower of the cable-stayed
bridge as illustrated on Figure 3.

For the study of the influence of the vertical acceleration on the response of the selected element, the ratio
of axial force with and without the vertical acceleration, defined as the Amplification factor is used. The
cables and tower of the cable stayed bridge are in pre-stressed condition due to the dead load. But the
linear modal analysis doesn’t start from the dead load pre-stressed condition hence only represents the
loading due to ground excitation. The load at the final stage (i.e. loading due to the dead load combined
with the seismic loading) is of prime interest for evaluating the structural performance, hence the
combination of Dead load and seismic loading was made. The ratio of axial load (combined dead load
and seismic loading) at the cables and Towers with and without vertical ground motion is defined as Final
amplification factor (FAF) for axial load.

For extreme values of time history analyses amplification factor is defined as:

(2)

Where, RSP (H+V) = Axial force (Maxima-Minima) for Case (H+V) RSP
(H) = Axial force (Maxima-Minima) for Case (H)

For extreme values of time history analyses (including the dead load pre-stressed loading) Final
amplification factor is defined as:

(3)

Where, DL+ RSP (H+V) = Axial force (Maxima) for Case (H+V) + dead load
DL+RSP (H) = Axial force (Maxima) for Case (H) + dead load

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First International Seminar on “Structural steel for Civil Construction” ToSE-Nepal Vol.II

Table 2 and 3 shows the Amplification factor and Final Amplification factor for selected elements of the
cable stayed bridge. Results indicate that for the ground motion of Landers the amplification factor is as
high as 689%. From table 3 it is clear that the amplification factor of ground motion of Landers is highest
for all the elements under study. The table also indicates due to the influence of the vertical ground
motion the axial force may even drop slightly. Table 4 summarizes the result of simulation for different
element to the subjected ground motion. The table shows that for Landers ground motion, final increase
in the cable tension is as much as 38% where as for Tower it is only 19%. The table also suggests that
due to combined application of horizontal and vertical ground motion maximum tension in cables may
even drop slightly.

Frame
Element Cable 1 Cable 3 Cable 15 Cable 20 Cable 23 Cable 26 878
Ground Main Main Main Side Side
motion span span span span Side span span Tower
Takatori 0.99 0.99 1.22 1.06 1.10 1.05 1.06
Nishiakshi 0.97 1.01 1.16 1.08 1.07 1.03 0.97
Lomaprieta 1.04 1.15 1.01 1.15 0.99 1.06 1.18
Gasli 1.01 1.44 1.38 1.50 1.32 1.84 1.12
Landers 1.42 3.69 3.06 3.37 3.98 6.89 2.00
Table 3 Amplification Factor for selected cables and Tower

Frame
Element Cable 1 Cable 3 Cable 15 Cable 20 Cable 23 Cable 26 878
Ground Main Main Main Side Side
motion span span span span Side span span Tower

Takatori 0.99 1.00 1.15 1.01 1.02 0.98 1.01

Nishiakshi 0.99 0.99 1.05 1.04 1.00 1.01 0.98

Lomaprieta 1.02 1.01 1.03 1.15 1.00 0.96 1.09

Gazli 1.02 1.08 1.05 1.20 1.03 1.12 1.05

Landers 1.02 1.14 1.36 1.38 1.16 1.25 1.19

Table 4 Final Amplification Factor for selected cables and Tower

Effect of Forward directivity Ground motion (FDGM):

In an attempt to identify the threat posed due to the pulse like velocity waves, to the Tower of the cable
stayed bridge the comparative study of response is carried out. The comparison of the responses is made
for FDGM and non FDGM.

The FDGM were applied to the structure in two phases “Regular” and “Inverse”. The terms “Regular”
and “Inverse” refer to how the two horizontal ground motion components were applied to the bridge.
“Regular” means that the Fault Normal and Fault Parallel components are applied to the bridge
longitudinal and transverse directions, respectively, and vice versa for “Inverse”. Since the fundamental
period of Tower (1.66sec) was in the transverse direction, application of “Inverse” ground motion was
necessary to find the effect of pulse period on the structure when it is in tune with its natural period. The
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main structural response parameter affected by the FDGM is identified as the Base moment and Base
shear of Tower on respective axis, which are plotted along with non-FDGM. Figure 7 and 8 shows the
bending and shear force response for the Tower for “Regular” and “Inverse” respectively compared to
Non-FDGM. It is clear from the Figure 8 that responses drastically amplify when pulse period is tuned
with the natural period of structure.

Figure 7 Tower Maxima and Minima Base Moment and Base Shear for “Regular” FDGM

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Figure 8 Tower Maxima and Minima Base Moment and Base Shear for “Inverse” FDGM

7. STRUCTURAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

This section examines the capacity of the Cables and the tower of the structure and compares it to
the seismic loading obtained from the analysis described in the previous chapter to determine
whether the bridge is capable of resisting the strong near field earthquakes.

Consideration of Cable Failure:

The allowable breaking strength of the cables, obtained from the design drawings and the maximum
tensions experienced by the cables during the seismic motions are included in table 5 Since the
breaking strength of the cables is comfortably above the maximum tensions experienced during the
earthquakes, failure of the cables are not a concern. However table 5 clearly illustrates that the factor of
safety may reduce near to unity. Worse cases of response for all cables are however found for JR Takatori
ground motion, cable near the centre of the span found to respond highly to the ground motion.

Max Tension
Dead Load Max final Breaking
(Seismic Ground Factor of
Element Tension Tension Stregth
loading) motion Safety
Kn Kn Kn Kn
Cable 1 3775 1164 4939 JR Takatori 9409.5 1.91

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Cable 3 2248 740 2988 JR Takatori 6292.5 2.11

Cable 15 1007 1198 2205 JR Takatori 3175.5 1.44
Cable 20 1206 1516 2722 JR Takatori 3520.5 1.29
Cable 23 1969 847 2816 JR Takatori 4906.5 1.74
Cable 26 1902 678 2580 JR Takatori 6292.5 2.44
Table 5 cable breaking strength and maximum tension

Tower Yielding Consideration:

Since the Karnali Cable-stayed bridge being critical lifeline facility and integral part of East-West
national highway systems it is desirable that it resist the even the worst case of loading within the elastic
range without any residual damage. To evaluate the elastic capacity of Tower Yield surface equation for
doubly symmetrical Steel section developed by Duan and Chen (1990) was utilized considering the
Tower base as a thin walled box section. Figure 9 represent the most critical yielding analysis of Tower
base with “Regular” and “Inverse” JR Takatori ground motion.

Since the biaxial plot is a spatial (3D) diagram, it will difficult to illustrate the interaction condition.
Hence an alternative horizontal slice of the biaxial diagram at the level of the applied axial force has been
used, plotting the counter of the diagram at the level to create a “Quarter-Orbit plot”. Only the quarter of
the Orbit plot is used since the orbit will be symmetrical for symmetrical sections. Figure 9(a)
corresponds to an axial force level of 78323 Kn. Maximum moment capacities are 166000Knm and
151000Knm respectively for M22 and M33.In a typical design situation a is deemed to be unyielding if
the coordinate (Abs(M22) and Abs(M33)) resides inside the quarter-orbit.

(a) (b)
Figure 9 Critical Quarter orbit plot of Tower base for “Regular” (a) and “Inverse” (b) JR Takatori ground
motion

The result obtained here indicate the Tower base is capable of resisting “Regular” JR Takatori ground
motion within the elastic range hence no residual damage will be there in this condition. Whereas when
the “Inverse” JR Takatori ground motion is applied to the structure, figure 9 (b) shows that
comprehensive damage would be inflected with higher level of residual displacement. Since this analysis
has been done using the linear elastic stress-strain relationship precise estimation of responses was not
possible.

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8. CONCLUSION
A Finite element model capable of representing essential feature of the Karnali cable-stayed bridge was
prepared. A series of simulations was carried on the cable-stayed to isolate the effects of vertical motions.
The study concentrated on the axial demand of cable and Tower of the cable-stayed bridge. Based on the
result presented, following conclusion can be summarized:

1. The current seismic codes including IS 1893 and NBC 105 and many other codes recommend a
vertical spectrum with values, which vary from half to two third of that of the horizontal spectra.
This approach seems to be un-conservative especially in short period range and near source distance
hence more rational method needs to be developed considering both magnitude and the source
distance.
2. The geometric nonlinearity has little influence on the seismic response behavior, even under strong
earthquake input. A small deformation analysis is found to be capable of predicting the responses as
was concluded by Fleming and Esgesli (1980), Nazmy and Abdel Ghatter(1990), Ren and Obata
(1999) and Morales Brignac(2005).
3. Axial response of the cable and Tower of long span cable stayed bridge depends highly on the
characteristics of ground motion and the dynamic properties of the bridge, earthquake records with
higher ratio of PGA (vertical to horizontal) doesn’t necessarily induce the maximum response. It is
observed here that the ground motion with higher spectral acceleration ratio (vertical to horizontal) at
the latter period of spectra imposes higher Axial force demand on the structure compared to the
corresponding horizontal (H only) ground motion.
4. The contribution of the vertical motion to the extreme axial force at tower base which is represented
by Final Amplification factor is found to be 1.19. Whereas Final Amplification factor for cables is
found to be 1.38.
5. Since Failure of the structural is not observed with worse case of vertical acceleration, it can be
hence concluded that the vertical acceleration is not the life safety issue for long span bridges.
6. Forward directivity ground motion could impose very high demand on structure especially when the
velocity pulse periods are tuned with the period of the structure. It is found that “Inverse” JR
Takatori ground motion is capable of producing residual damage on the Tower base of cable-stayed
bridge. Also the maximum tension for all cables under consideration is achieved for JR Takatori
ground motion, again emphasizing the destructive potential of FDGM.

9. ACKNOWLEGEMENT
The authors acknowledge the support of Department of Roads during the field visits and data collection.

10. REFRENCES
1. Bozorgnia, Y., Niazi, M. and Campbell, K.W. (1995). “Characteristics of free-field vertical ground
motion during the Northridge earthquake”, Earthquake Spectra, Vol. 23, pp515-525.
2. Bray, J. D. and Rodriguez-Marek, A. (2004). “Characterization of forward-directivity ground
motions in the near-fault region.” Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 24: 815-828.
3. Chen, W F; Duan, L (1990); “A yield surface equation for doubly symmetrical section”, Struct.
Eng., 12(2), 114
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59 Structural Engineers’ Association Nepal (SEANep) 12, June 2009