CONSTRUCTION AND APPLICATION OF NONLINEAR GAP ELEMENT FOR DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF FLOATING BRIDGE

There is no universal method to simulate the dynamic characteristics of gaps for floating bridges due to the complexities of their dynamic responses. Thusly it is very difficult to model and compute the dynamic responses of a floating bridge. The nonlinear mixed element can be creating a combined truss element, which can simulate the connector character of tension and compression, and a girder element, which can simulate its bending character. Consequently, the nonlinear mixed element can be used to model the connector character and calculate the dynamic responses of a floating bridge. It shows that the floating bridge with nonlinear connector will present the effect of displacement wave accumulation subjected to fast and heavy loads after analyzing both numerical results and the corresponding model experiment.