Seismic Performance of a Suspension Bridge Considering Saddle–Cable Slippage

In a suspension bridge, slippage may occur at the saddle–cable interface during an earthquake. A refined finite element model of the saddle–cable interface is proposed which considers the compressive force and friction force at the curved contact surface. To investigate the saddle–cable slippage during an earthquake, the finite element model of a suspension bridge was built, and nonlinear time history analysis was conducted. Furthermore, the effects of the friction coefficient at the saddle–cable interface, the pounding between the suspension bridge and the approach bridges, the fluid viscous damper, and the rigid central buckle were evaluated by parametric analysis. The result shows that the saddle–cable slippage affects the overall seismic response of the suspension bridge slightly. The saddle–cable slippage is affected significantly by the friction coefficient of the saddle–cable interface, fluid viscous damper, and the rigid central buckle.