Nonlinear Properties of carbon fiber-reinforced

plastic Stay Cables

Peng Liang, Xiangnan Wu
Key Laboratory for Bridge and Tunnel of Shaanxi Province,
Changan University, Xian 710064
Shaanxi, China
BridgeDoctor@126.com, wuxiangnan_2007@163.com
AbstractBased on catenary theory, taking stay cables of Sutong
Yangtze Bridge with the main span of 1088 m as research objects,
this paper compares the nonlinear properties between highstrength wire stay cables and carbon fiber-reinforced plastics
(CFRP). Studies show that because of weight reduction, the sag of
CFRP cable and the losses of cable stiffness and bearing
efficiency reduce greatly, especially for long cable. So, CFRP stay
cables have obvious advantages in super long span cable-stayed
bridges.
Keywords-stay cable; carbon
nonlinear properties; catenary theory

fiber-reinforced

Fj y

Fj x

L u, E, A, w

Ly

Fi y

plastics;

Fi x
Lx

I.

INTRODUCTION

Super long span cable-stayed bridges are being built in

increasing numbers. If the traditional high-strength wire stay
cables are used for super long span cable-stayed bridges, the
load-carrying efficiency of the stay cable is low, for the
influence of sag created by self weight of the stay cable.
Because carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) possess
excellent properties such as light weight, high strength and
high corrosion resistance, advantages of CFRP in super long
span cable-stayed bridges will be more and more obvious with
the price reduction and performance improvement and
resolution of key issues such as anchoring [1]. Taking stay
cables of Sutong Yangtze Bridge with the main span of 1088 m
as research objects, this paper compares the nonlinear
properties between high-strength wire stay cables and CFRP
ones.
II.

Figure 1. Catenary cable element

Category one is that if Lu is given, cable shape and tension

can be calculated. Structural analysis of cable supported
bridges and the tensioning of the cable controlled by cable
length both belong to type one.
Category two is that if anyone of Fix, Fiy, Fjx, Fjy, Ti, Tj, i,
j is given, cable shape and other components of end cable
forces can be calculated. Computation of initial state, the
tensioning of the cable controlled by cable stress and so on, all
belong to type two.
In Fig.1, i and j mean to the angles between the tangent of
the cable on the points of i and j and the horizon; Ti, Tj are
tensions at origin I and end J of cable; Fix, Fiy, Fjx, Fjy refer to
components of external tensions Ti and Tj in directions x and y.

CATENARY THEORY FOR STAY CABLE ANALYSIS

The first category mainly solves problems on structural

analysis to get the deformation and internal force under loads
in flexible iteration method or others [3].The second category,
the inverse problem of the first one, mainly solves problems on
initial state. It can be calculated by using the first category for
many times, which means to solve nonlinear equations. And all
static problems [4-10] of the individual cable can be solved by
using the method mentioned above.

Because of sag created by the self weight of the stay cable,

the nonlinear mechanical behaviors of the stay cables for super
long span cable-stayed bridges are getting complex and the
common simplified calculating method will cause errors [2].
The paper uses catenary theory for stay cable analysis to do
calculations.
Fig. 1 shows a cable element stretched in xoy plane when
subjected to the resultant load. If E, A, W (cable tangent
modulus of elasticity, cable cross section area, weight of cable
per unit length) and Lx, Ly (projections of cable in direction x
and y) are given, the static problems for the individual cable
can be divided to two categories.

III.

CABLES

Su Tong Bridge, having a 1088 m long main span, was

constructed in China as a twin-tower cable-stayed bridge with
steel box girder. Stay cables from the pylon to the main span

This work presented herein has been supported by the Natural Science
Foundation of Shaanxi Province under grant number (SJ08E205). This support
is gratefully acknowledged.

978-1-4577-0290-7/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

ANALYSIS ON NONLINEAR PROPERTIES OF CFRP STAY

472

Maximum vertical sag fv / m

center are numbered from 1 to 34 with the projection in

direction x from 8 to 536m. The horizontal distance between
cable ends at the girder is 16 m. Based on the catenary theory
above, various properties of stay cables in mid-span of Su
Tong Bridge were compared in different projection lengths in
direction x and different stress levels, especially for Lx=104,
200, 296, 392, 504, 536 m which are equal to the length of the
side stay cables in two-tower stayed cable bridge with the main
span of 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1088 and for =200, 300,
450, 550, 650, 750 Mpa which are equal to the cable stress in
the stage of crane moving forward, the second tensioning,
beam lifting, deck paving and the combination.

= 650

10

100

200

300

400

500

(b) CFRP stay cable

Figure 2. The relational curve of the maximum vertical sag fv and the
horizontal projection length Lx

From Fig. 2, it is seen that for long stay cable in low stress
level, CFRP stay cable can significantly reduce the cable sag.
Take the stay cable with Lx=536m for instance, when the cable
stress is as low as 200 MPa, the maximum vertical sags for
high-strength and CFRP stay cables are 17.0646, 3.5109
respectively. However, when the stress reaches up to 550 Mpa,
maximum vertical sags for these two are 6.3349, 1.2818
respectively.
B. Equivalent stiffness coefficient
For convenience, this paper defines equivalent stiffness
coefficient for the stay cable as the ratio between the stiffness
of the catenary cable element and the corresponding chord
element. And the stiffness of the chord element includes elastic
stiffness and geometric stiffness. The definition above is
equivalent to the so-called elastic modulus reduction factor,
which reflects the stiffness loss caused by the cable sag. The
greater the equivalent stiffness coefficient is, the smaller the
stiffness loss caused by the cable sag is and the closer the
stiffness of the cable element comes to the chord element.

200
300
450
550
650
750

10

Under different stress levels, the relational curve of the

equivalent coefficient of vertical stiffness Kiy at girder end and
the horizontal projection length Lx is shown in Fig. 3, for highstrength wire stay cables and CFRP ones.

8
6
4
2
0

= 750

1.0
100

200

300

400

0.9

500

Projection of cable in direction x Lx / m

Equivalent coefficient of Kiy

Maximum vertical sag fv / m

12

= 550

Projection of cable in direction x Lx / m

A. Maximum vertical sag

Fig. 2 shows the relational curve of the maximum vertical
sag fv and the horizontal projection length Lx, under different
stress levels, for high-strength wire stay cables and CFRP ones.
=
=
=
=
=
=

= 450

12

Analysis models: the origin i and the end j of the stay

cables are in the design position when the bridge is completed.
Calculating the sag, stiffness and other properties of stay cables
under various stress levels belongs to category one mentioned
in the beginning of the paper.

= 300

In order to compare the nonlinear properties between highstrength wire stay cables and CFRP ones, this paper also
calculates CFRP stay cables, for which =17.2 kN/m3, 1/5 the
bulk density of the former and E =1.5105 Mpa.

14

= 200

14

Stay cables used in Su Tong Bridge are made of highstrength wire. The cross area of cables vary from
0.004888~0.012046 m2 and the projections in direction x vary
from 8~536m. =86 kN/m3, E =1.95105Mpa. The weight of
the longest cable is about 60 t.

16

16

(a) High-strength wire stay cable

0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0

100

=
=
=
=
=
=

200
300
450
550
650
750

200

300

400

500

Projection of cable in direction x Lx / m

(a) High-strength wire stay cable

473

1.00

1.0

0.95

0.8

Equivalent coefficient of Fiy

Equivalent coefficient of Kiy

0.9

0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2

=
=
=
=
=
=

200
300
450
550
650
750

0.90

0.85

0.80

0.75

=
=
=
=
=
=

200
300
450
550
650
750

0.1
0.0

0.70
100

200

300

400

500

100

200

300

400

500

Projection of cable in direction x Lx / m

Projection of cable in direction x Lx / m

(b) CFRP stay cable

(a) High-strength wire stay cable

Figure 3. The relational curve of the equivalent coefficient of vertical

stiffness Kiy at girder end and the horizontal projection length Lx

1.00

0.95

Equivalent coefficient of Fiy

From Fig. 3, it is seen that for long stay cable in low stress
level, CFRP stay cable can significantly reduce stiffness loss
caused by cable sag. Take the stay cable with Lx=536m for
instance, when the cable stress is as low as 200 Mpa, vertical
equivalent stiffness coefficients for high-strength and CFRP
stay cables are 0.2205, 0.8921 respectively. However, when the
stress reaches up to 550 Mpa, vertical equivalent stiffness
coefficients for these two are 0.8452, 0.9942 respectively.

0.90

0.85

0.80

0.75

=
=
=
=
=
=

0.70

C. Equivalent coefficient of components of cable force

Equivalent coefficient of components of cable element
force is defined as the ratio between components of cable force
of the catenary cable element and the corresponding chord
element. When do the calculation of the components of cable
force, the element end stress at the girder should be the same
for both cable and chord elements. This definition reflects the
change about components of cable force caused by the cable
sag. The closer the equivalent coefficient comes to 1, the
smaller the error will become by using chord element to do
calculation instead of catenary cable element. At cable tension
stage, equivalent coefficient of components of cable force
directly reflects the effect of cable tension on the structure.
Meanwhile, in the operation phase, it reflects the supporting
efficiency of the stay cables on the structure. Thus, the larger
the equivalent coefficient is, the higher the efficiency of the
structure is.

750
650
550
450
300
200

100

200

300

400

500

Projection of cable in direction x Lx / m

(b) CFRP stay cable

Figure 4. The relational curve of the equivalent coefficient of vertical
component of cable force Fiy at girder end and the horizontal projection
length Lx

From Fig. 4, it is seen that for long stay cable in low stress
level, CFRP stay cable can significantly reduce the loss of
vertical component of cable force at girder end caused by cable
sag. Take the stay cable with Lx=536m for instance, when the
cable stress is as low as 200 Mpa, the equivalent coefficients of
Fjy for high-strength and CFRP stay cables are 0.7248, 0.9454
respectively. However, when the stress reaches up to 550 Mpa,
the equivalent coefficients for these two are 0.9008, 0.9802
respectively.

Fig. 4 shows the relational curve of the equivalent

coefficient of vertical component of cable force Fiy at girder
end and the horizontal projection length Lx, under different
stress levels, for high-strength wire stay cables and CFRP ones.

IV.

CONCLUSIONS

The comparisons of nonlinear properties between highstrength wire stay cables and CFRP ones show that because of
weight reduction, the sag of CFRP cable and the losses of cable
stiffness and bearing efficiency reduce greatly, especially for
long cable. So, CFRP stay cables have obvious advantages in
super long span cable-stayed bridges.
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