Research Paper

Advances in Structural Engineering

1–18
Structural form and experimental Ó The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/13694332211020384

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Chen Qiu1,2 , Xiaoli Xie1, Mulin Pang1 and Huilan Song1

Abstract
With the increase of the arch bridge span, the mechanical properties of arch bridges will decrease rapidly. In order to solve this prob-
lem, triangular net is set between the arch rib and girder to form a kind of truss arch bridge in which arch rib acts as top chord, girder
acts as lower chord, triangular net acts as web member, and hangers provide elastic restrains at several points. The triangle stability of
the truss can improve linear stiffness of arch rib and girder, which will thus improve the mechanical properties of arch bridges. A test
bridge with a span of 50 m was built to prove the superiority of the truss arch bridge with multi-point elastic constraints (MTAB).
Structural stresses and displacements were obtained through dead load experiments, and the mechanical properties of the structure
were calculated through the finite element (FE) software. It is turned out that, compared with the conventional through arch bridge
(CTAB), the mechanical performance of the MTAB is greatly improved. The test values of structural stresses and displacements match
calculation values well. Moreover, with the same steel consumption, the more layers of the triangular net, the better the mechanical
properties of the structure.

Keywords
experimental research, mechanical property, structural form, through arch bridge, truss arch bridge

Introduction when the loads are applied, the interactions between

the arch ribs and girder are not good, and the stiffness
The through arch bridge (TAB) has lightweight of the girder can not be brought into full play. When
appearance, which can effectively reduce the girder the span or the load level increases, the structure will
height, and generally uses tie bars to balance the hori- have great shear deformation and bending deforma-
zontal thrusts of the arch feet (Fan et al.,2020a, 2020b; tion, so the mechanical properties will decline rapidly.
LaFronz et al., 2004; Robert and Soliman, 2014). In Scholars all over the world have carried out a lot of
addition, it can flexibly adopt various construction research works on how to improve the mechanical
methods such as arch before beam, beam before arch, properties of TAB, but most of them focused on a cer-
jacking, and rotation. So it has become one of the tain mechanical parameter. Among them, in terms of
most reasonable bridges for long-span highway or rail- strength and stiffness, Qu et al. (2011) and Lee et al.
way bridges in areas with high clearance and poor geo- (2013) considered that the use of concrete-filled steel
logical conditions (Charles et al., 2000; Chen, 2009; Li tube material for arch ribs can give full play to the
et al., 2012). In recent years, with the continuous pro- respective advantages of steel and concrete to make up
motion of infrastructure construction in China, TAB for each other’s shortcomings, which is an effective
has also made great development, especially in the
application of high-speed railway line (Gou et al., 1
College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Guangxi University,
2018; Liu et al., 2019), such as Dashengguan Railway
Nanning, China
Bridge (Song et al., 2017). 2
Department of Mechanical and Material Engineering, Wuzhou
The conventional through arch bridge (CTAB) is University, Wuzhou, China
generally composed of arch ribs, hangers, and girder.
As a small eccentric compression member, the arch ribs Corresponding author:
Mulin Pang, No.100 Daxue East Road, Xixiangtang District, College of
have great stiffness. The girder is a continuous beam Civil Engineering and Architecture, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004,
with elastic constraints of hangers, which also has great China.
stiffness. But the hangers are flexible components, Email: 469354074@qq.com
2 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)

way to achieve a breakthrough in long-span arch construction of long and large member is difficult. In
bridge in the future. For example, Pingnan Third order to reduce the free length, improve the linear stiff-
Bridge (Xie et al., 2021), the largest arch bridge in the ness and stability, and facilitate the construction, the
world, has a span of 575 m. In terms of stability, web members are set as a triangular net, and a truss
experts mainly studied the parameters of arch rib arch bridge with multi-point elastic constraints
transverse braces, arch rib inclination angle, wall (MTAB) is formed. Through numerical simulation and
thickness of arch rib steel pipe, rise span ratio, arch experimental verification, the MTAB was further stud-
axis coefficient, etc., and the results can provide refer- ied, and the differences of mechanical properties under
ences for structural stability design (Cai et al., 2012; different structural forms were analyzed.
Liu et al., 2017; Xing et al., 2009). In terms of dynamic
characteristics, Li et al. (2008) mentioned that the
crossbar has obvious influence on the dynamic and Structural form and mechanics principle
stabilization characteristics of the bridge. Structural form
Cheng and Qiang (2002) considered that the inclina-
tion angle of arch rib has a great influence on the low- The main components of MTAB include arch rib, gir-
order natural frequencies of the structure, and increas- der, triangular net, and hangers. According to the
ing the inclination angle within a certain range can number of layers of triangular net, it can be divided
improved the natural frequencies. Gao and Zhou into different structural forms (as shown in Figure 1).
(2014) considered that the natural frequencies of The arch ribs act as the upper chord, the triangular net
through arch bridge can be improved by adding trans- acts as the web member, the girder acts as the lower
verse braces and arranging them reasonably. chord, and the hangers provide multi-point elastic con-
The research results of the above scholars give sug- straints to the girder.
gestions for improving a certain mechanical parameter
of TAB, but failed to achieve the comprehensive
Mechanics principle
improvement of mechanical properties. With the con-
tinuous increase of the TAB span, the structural stiff- Along with the increase of span, the stiffness of CTAB
ness will decrease rapidly, the stability will become the decreases, which results in the decrease of natural fre-
control parameter of design, and the influence of quency. To solve this problem, the truss structure with
dynamic characteristics on bridge safety will also multi-point elastic constraints is used to improve the
increase rapidly. Therefore, it is of great significance to overall stiffness of the structure, so as to improve the
seek effective methods to comprehensively improve the natural frequency.
mechanical properties of TAB for realizing the break- The girder, arch ribs, and triangular net form truss
through of arch bridge span and meeting the future structure together. However, high truss height can
traffic demand. improve the stiffness of the structure, but its economy
There are some problems in long span arch bridge becomes worse. In order to solve this problem, the gir-
and hybrid system may be the solution. Nielsen system der is used to replace the lower chord of the CTAB,
arch bridge has been used in high-speed railway for a the hangers are retained, and the web members are
long time (Zhang et al., 2009). Per (1987) proposed a rearranged, so as to form the integral truss structure.
network arch bridge and it saves half the weight of As shown in Figure 2, the truss height is 10 times or
steel compared with similar spans of conventional steel even more than the CTAB, which is formed by the
bridges. Farahmand and Barghian (2020a, 2020b) pro- main beam, arch rib, and web members. The structure
posed a cable-stayed arch bridge with a hanger system is simpler than the traditional truss arch structure, and
and the stiffness and human comfort level for the the truss height is significantly increased thus greatly
bridge were well improved by modifying the hanger improves the ability to resist deformation.
system. Under dead loads, the arch structure can adjust the
Xie and his group have proposed a variety of new internal force distribution of arch ring by selecting rea-
arch bridge structures (Tang, 2019; Wang, 2019; Xie sonable rise-span ratio and arch axis coefficient, which
et al., 2018, 2019a, 2019b). Through theoretical analy- has superior mechanical properties. However, under
sis and FE calculation, it is proved that certain achieve- live loads, the arch structure is prone to large deforma-
ments have been made in improving the mechanical tion at the quarter of the arch rib, which makes the
properties of TAB. However, there are some problems internal force increase sharply. To solve this problem,
in the previous results, such as the rigid members the dead loads in stage I and II are loaded after the
between the arch rib and the girder is too long, and its CTAB is completed. That is, the arch structure of
linear stiffness is small. So, it is easy to lose stability CTAB bear all the dead loads firstly (Figure 3(a)), then
when the rigid members are compressed, and the the web members are added to complete the system
Qiu et al. 3

(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 1. The structures of MTAB: (a) the structural form of one-layer triangular net, (b) the structural form of double-layer
triangular net, and (c) the structural form of three-layer triangular net.

Figure 2. Integral truss structure: (a) structure of CTAB and (b) structure of MTAB.
4 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)

Figure 3. Structure system transformation.

transformation (Figure 3(b)). So, the truss structure is catenary, and the coefficient of arch axis M = 1.2.
formed to withstand the live loads. The upper structure is all steel structure, the founda-
In Nielson system arch bridge, the vertical hangers tion is composite foundation, and the design load is
are replaced by inclined hangers which are flexible 3.50 kN/m2. The parameters and consumption of main
components. In MTAB, the triangular net is a rigid components of the test bridge are shown in Table 1,
member added to the CTAB, which forms truss struc- where the steel consumption of triangular net only
ture together with the girder and arch ribs. And by accounts for 3.50% of the total steel consumption of
timely system transformation, the truss structure bear the bridge. The structural layout and actual bridge are
most live loads. shown in Figures 4 and 5 respectively. The rectangular
plate rubber bearings are set between the girder and
abutments, and the triangular net is welded with the
Experimental study on static load of girder and arch rib. For the convenience of structural
MTAB form transformation, the flange plates (as shown in
In order to verify the superiority of the mechanical Figure 6) are set on the triangular net. When the bolts
properties of MTAB, a test bridge was built with one- are loosened and the base plates are removed, and the
layer triangular network. Through the static load triangular net fails, at this time, the structure is a
experiment, the stress and displacement of the struc- CTAB; when the bolts are tightened and the base
ture were tested, and the results were compared with plates are installed, the triangular net participates in
the one calculated by FE software. stress, at this time, the structure is a MTAB.

Introduction of test bridge Analysis of FE calculation results

The test bridge was arranged with single arch rib, and The three-dimensional model of the test bridge was
the horizontal thrusts of arch feet were balanced by tie established by the FE software MIDAS Civil, and the
bars. The span L = 50 m, the deck width w = 5.7 m, maximum stress smax of each component was calcu-
the rise span ratio f/L = 1/5, the arch axis adopts lated under four load conditions: (I) 1.2 3 dead load,
Qiu et al. 5

Table1. The parameters and consumption of members.

Members Section Material Dimensions (mm) Area (mm2) Consumption (t)

Arch rib Box section Q235 10003600310 31,600 13.37

Girder Box section Q235 5700 (upper board)/ 92,036 35.42
2900 (baseboard) 3 386 3 8
Triangular network 16#a U-steel Q235 160 3 63 3 6.5 2196 1.78
Hangers Solid circular section Wire 1770 u15.2 181 0.31

Figure 4. The structural layout of the test bridge (unit : mm).

Figure 6. The flange (unit : cm).

The calculation results of FE software show that the

stress differences between the MTAB and the CTAB
Figure 5 The test bridge. are not obvious, but the girder deformations are quite
different. Specifically, the triangular net is a tension
(II) 1.2 3 dead load + 1.4 3 live load, (III) 1.2 3 compression member under all working conditions,
dead load + 1.4 3 live load + 1.05 3 tempera- and the stress level is low: under the working condition
ture rise, (IV) 1.0 3 live load. And the maximum I, the maximum stress differences between the two
deflection Wmax of the girder under the load condition structures are very small; under the working condition
IV was calculated. The FE models of CTAB and II, the maximum stress of the arch rib of the MTAB is
MTAB are shown in Figure 7, and the calculation lower than that of the CTAB; under the working con-
results are shown in Tables 2 and 3. dition III, the maximum compressive stress of the
6 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)

Figure 7. The FE models: (a) the model of CTAB and (b) the model of MTAB.

Table 2. Calculation results of maximum structural stress.

Members smax (MPa)

CTAB MTAB
Condition Condition Condition Condition Condition Condition Condition Condition
I II III IV I II III IV

Arch rib 220.7 2101.0 2123.5 257.3 220.3 294.5 2142.9 253.0
Girder 2.0/21.4 16.9/213.3 235.4 11.1/29.9 2.2/20.7 10.6/26.9 9.6/215.6 7.4/25.0
Hangers 72.6 241.8 193.4 120.9 77.5 243.6 230.4 118.6
Triangular net / / / / 11.4/210.9 45.6/227.1 49.6/274.7 29.0/217.3

-: Indicates compression.

Figure 8. Layout of water tanks.

Table 3. The table of calculation results for maximum MTAB is only 7.57 mm, which is 49.28% less than that
deflection of main beam under live load. of the CTAB.
In conclusion, the triangular net can improve the
Wmax (mm) Rate of change (%) mechanical properties of MTAB to a certain extent,
CTAB MTAB especially in improving the stiffness. However, it is nec-
essary to pay attention to the adverse effects on tem-
214.91 27.57 249.28 perature response caused by the increase of statically
indeterminate times.

girder of the MTAB is reduced by 19.8 MPa compared

with the CTAB. However, the triangular net increases
Layouts of test sections and test points
the statically indeterminate times of the structure, and According to the analysis results of FE models under
the maximum stress of the arch rib and hangers working condition IV, the load location of the most
increases significantly compared with the CTAB, in unfavorable load case (the maximum lower deflection
which the maximum stress of the arch rib increases by condition of the girder) is obtained. Through the static
19.4 MPa and the maximum stress of the hangers load equivalent method, the test bridge was loaded by
increases by 37.0 MPa; under the working condition water tanks, and the stresses and displacements of the
IV, the maximum stress of the MTAB is smaller than structure were tested. The loading processes were
that of CTAB, but the difference is not big. Under the divided into three levels, and the final loading weight
live load, the maximum deformation of the girder of is 16t. The layout of water tanks is shown in Figure 8.
Qiu et al. 7

Figure 9 Stress test points on arch rib and girder.

The arch feet, girder ends, L/8 section, 2L/8 section,

3L/8 section, 4L/8 section, 5L/8 section, 6L/8 section,
and 7L/8 section were selected as stress test sections, as
shown in Figure 9. The arch rib stress test points were
arranged at the upper and lower edges of the side of
arch rib, as shown in Figure 10. The girder stress test
points were arranged on the upper and lower surfaces,
as shown in Figure 11. The stress measuring points on
the triangular net were arranged at the upper and lower
ends of the channel steel, as shown in Figure 12. The
hanger stress test points were arranged at the lower
ends of anchors on one side of the cable surface, as
shown in Figure 13. The layout of displacement test
points of girder are shown in Figure 14. The strain of
each point is collected by the resistance strain gauge,
Figure 10. Stress test points on arch rib. the displacement is collected by the dial indicator, and
the collected signal is processed and analyzed by the
multi-functional strain static test system. The field test
is shown in Figure 15.

Analysis of calculation and test results

Figure 11. Stress test points on girder. The static load test was carried out in three levels. Due
to the large number of test components and points, the

Figure 12. Stress test points on triangular network.

Figure 13. Stress test points on hangers.

8 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)

Figure 14. Displacement test points on girder.

Figure 15. The field test: (a) multi-functional strain static test system, (b) water tank loading, (c) arch rib stress test points
(d) stress test point on the upper surface of girder, (e) stress point on the lower surface of girder, (f) stress test points on triangular
net, (g) stress test points on hangers, and (h) deflection test point of girder.
Qiu et al. 9

Figure 16. Arch rib stresses under the third level loading: (a) upper edge stresses and (b) lower edge stresses.

Figure 17. Girder stresses under the third level loading: (a) upper surface stresses and (b) lower surface stresses.

following figures are only test data in the third level.

The stresses of test and calculation values of arch rib,
girder, triangular net, and hangers are shown in
Figures 16 to 19 respectively, and the test and calcula-
tion values of girder displacement are shown in
Figure 20.
Where: s1, s2 are the upper and lower edge stresses
of arch rib sections in CTAB; s3, s4 are the upper and
lower edge stresses of arch rib sections in MTAB; s5,
s6 are the upper and lower surface stresses of girder in
CTAB; s7, s8 are the upper and lower surface stresses
of girder in MTAB; s9 are the stresses of triangular net
in MTAB; s10 are the stresses of hangers in CTAB; s11
are the stresses of hangers in MTAB; W1 are the deflec-
tions of girder in CTAB; W2 are the deflections of gir-
der in MTAB; TV are short for test values; and CV are
short for calculation values. Figure 18. Triangular net stresses under third-level loading.
10 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)

the upper and lower edges of the arch rib of the

MTAB are reduced by 66.97% and 40.81% respec-
tively. The maximum stresses on the upper and lower
surfaces of the girder in MTAB and CTAB appear at
the 3L/8 section, but the former is 28.57% and
27.24% less than the latter respectively. In terms of
hanger stresses, the maximum stresses of the MTAB
and CTAB both appear in the No. 9 hanger, but the
former is 6.30% less than the latter. The maximum
deflections of the girder in MTAB and CTAB are both
located at No. 4 test point, but the deflection of
MTAB is reduced by 42.08%. The range of the girder
deflection of the CTAB under load is larger. The maxi-
mum girder deflection of CTAB is 6.230 mm, while
that of MTAB is only 0.181 mm, which is reduced by
97.09%.
Figure 19. Hanger stresses under third-level loading. In conclusion, compared with the CTAB, the
mechanical properties of MTAB have been greatly
improved, specifically in the maximum stress of arch
rib, girder, hangers, and the maximum down and up
deflection of girder. Therefore, the strength and stiff-
ness of MTAB are effectively improved, and it is a
bridge structure with superior mechanical properties.

Design and analysis of a 488 m span

double track high-speed railway bridge
In order to further verify the superiority of the
mechanical properties of MTAB and study the differ-
ences of mechanical properties under different struc-
tural forms, taking the double track high-speed
railway arch bridge as an example, a three-dimensional
model is established by using the FE software to ana-
lyze its mechanical indexes, and the comparison with
the CTAB is carried out.
Figure 20. Girder deflections under third-level loading.

Structural arrangement
It can be seen from the figures that the test and cal- The structural arrangements of MTAB and CTAB are
culation stress data of arch rib, girder, triangular net, shown in Figures 21 and 22 respectively. Taking the
hangers, and girder deflection of CTAB and MTAB double track high-speed railway arch bridge with a
are in good agreement. Considering the idealized treat- span of 488 m as an example, the rise span ratio is 1/5,
ment of boundary conditions and the defects in the the arch axis adopts catenary, the arch axis coefficient
construction processes, the test data have high reliabil- is 1.4, the total width of the bridge deck is 18 m, and
ity, and the test and calculation data can support each the distance between two adjacent hangers is 12 m. By
other. adjusting the section size of steel box arch rib and tri-
Through in-depth analysis of the data, it can be angular net, the same steel consumption is ensured,
seen that the triangular net makes the MTAB show and the total steel consumption of both bridges is
excellent mechanical properties, and its mechanical about 17,700 tons.The cross sections of arch ribs are
properties are quite different from the CTAB, such as shown in Figure 23, the cross section of triangular net
the reduction of the maximum stresses of the arch rib, is shown in Figure 24, and other component para-
girder, hangers, and the deflection of the girder. meters and material consumption of MTAB are shown
Compared with the CTAB, the maximum stresses of in Table 4.
Qiu et al. 11

(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 21. The structural layout of MTAB (unit : m): (a) structural arrangement of one-layer triangular net, (b) structural
arrangement of double-layer triangular net, and (c) structural arrangement of three-layer triangular net.

FE analysis of structural strength and temperature 1.0 3 (dead loads + live load of train + overall
response cooling of temperature); load case IV: 1.0 3 live load
Under the condition of completed bridge, the strength of train. Where the train load is ZK live load (standard
and temperature response of the structure under four live load of China passenger dedicated line, as shown
load cases are analyzed. Load case I: 1.0 3 dead in Figure 25), the initial temperature is 20°C, the final
loads; load case II: 1.0 3 (dead loads + live load of temperature of temperature rise is 40°C, and the final
train + overall rise of temperature); load case III: temperature of cooling is 0°C.
12 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)

Figure 22. The structural layout of CTAB (unit : m).

Figure 23. Arch rib sections (unit : m): (a) arch rib sections of MTAB and (b) arch rib sections of CTAB.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 24. The cross sections of triangular net (unit : mm): (a) cross section of one-layer triangular net, (b) cross section of
double-layer triangular net, and (c) cross section of three-layer triangular net.
Qiu et al. 13

Table 4. Other component parameters and material consumption of MTAB.

Component Section Material Element Torsional Bending Area (m2) Consumption

type moment moment (t)
of inertia (m4) of inertia (m4)

Hangers Circular Standard Truss 6.44e26 3.22e26/3.22e26 6.36e23 266.9

1860
Girder Box shaped Q345 Beam 6.97e0 2.94e0/3.39e1 1.18e0 8037.2
Transverse connection Box shaped Q345 Beam 1.48e22 1.54e22/7.08e23 4.76e22 572.2
of arch rib

Table 5. Calculation results of maximum stress of arch rib in calculation models.

Load cases Maximum stress of arch rib (MPa)

CTAB MTAB
One-layer Double-layer Three-layer
triangular net triangular net triangular net

I 298.5 2101.1 299.3 292.5

II 2137.7 2138.5 2136.6 2126.9
III 2137.7 2138.5 2136.6 2126.9
IV 261.8 231.6 229.7 228.9

Figure 25. ZK live load.

The maximum stress curves of MTAB and CTAB

under load case III are shown in Figure 26. The maxi-
mum stress calculation results of arch rib of MTAB
and CTAB are shown in Table 5. It can be seen that
with the increase of triangular net layers, the maxi-
mum stress of MTAB decreases and the uniformity is
better. The maximum stress of MTAB with one-layer Figure 26. The maximum stress of arch ribs of MTAB and
triangular net is similar to that of CTAB, but the aver- CTAB under load case III.
age stress of MTAB is lower than that of CTAB, and
the distribution is more uniform. The larger stress of FE analysis of structural stiffness
CTAB is concentrated near 1/4L of arch rib, which is
much larger than the stress of arch foot. According to the requirements of code for Design of
In conclusion, the mechanical properties of MTAB Railway Bridges and Culverts (TB10002-2017), based
are slightly different under different layers of triangu- on the train load and temperature conditions, the stiff-
lar net. The more layer of triangular net, the better the ness of the model is studied under the following three
mechanical properties. That is to say, even the same load cases:
amount of steel is used, the maximum stress of arch
rib of MTAB is smaller than that of CTAB under the I: 1.0 3 train live load
action of various loads. Therefore, MTAB has better II: 0.63 3 train live load + 1.0 3 temperature
economy and advantages than CTAB. load
14 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)

Table 6. Calculation results of girder deflections.

Load cases Deflections CTAB MTAB Allowable

value (mm)
One-layer Double-layer Three-layer
triangular net triangular net triangular net

I Maximum deflection of girder (mm) 357.7 136.7 130.4 120.1 488

II Maximum deflection of girder (mm) 225.4 86.2 82.2 75.6 488
III Maximum deflection of girder (mm) 357.7 136.7 130.4 120.1 488
I The sum of the upper and 575.5 136.7 130.4 120.1 610
lower deflections
(absolute values) of the
girder at L/4 span (mm)

III: 1.0 3 train live load + 0.5 3 temperature under the static and live load of the train. It can be seen
load that MTAB overcomes the inherent disadvantages of
the CTAB, and is more conducive to the high-speed
The calculation results of girder deflection of and smooth running of the train.
MTAB and CTAB are shown in Table 6. The results
of finite element analysis show that :
FE analysis of structural dynamic characteristics
1) The maximum deflection of the girder meets According to the linear elastic theory, the dynamic
the requirements of the code, and the value is characteristics of the structure are analyzed.The fol-
mainly determined by the train live load, which lowing only gives the description of the first five natu-
is little affected by the temperature load; ral frequencies and vibration modes of the calculation
2) The maximum deflection of the girder of model due to the article length. The specific results are
MTAB is significantly reduced compared with shown in Table 7.
CTAB, and the more layer of triangular net, The results of FE analysis show that:
the greater the reduction;
3) Under load case I, when the train live load acts 1) The first-order vibration of MTAB and CTAB
alone, the maximum deflection of the girder of are out-of-plane symmetric, and the natural fre-
CTAB is 357.7 mm, while that of MTAB is quency of the former is slightly higher than that
only 136.7, 130.4, and 120.1 mm under differ- of the latter;
ent structural arrangements, which is 61.8%, 2) The first order of in-plane vibration of CTAB
63.5%, and 66.4% less than the former is low, and its natural frequency is only
respectively; 0.3314 Hz, while the order of the MTAB is the
4) Under load case II, the maximum deflections of fourth or the fifth, and the natural frequencies
the girder of CTAB and MTAB are reduced, of different structural arrangements are 0.7399,
the former is 225.4 mm, and the latter is only 0.7178, and 0.7292 Hz, which are 123.3%,
86.2, 82.2, and 75.6 mm under different struc- 116.6%, and 120.0% higher than the CTAB
tural arrangements; respectively.
5) Under load case III, the maximum deflections 3) The natural frequency of the first anti-
of the girders don’t change compared with load symmetric torsion of MTAB is slightly lower
case I; than that of CTAB. With the increase of the
6) In addition, under load case I, the sum of the layers of triangular net, the section size of mem-
upper and lower deflections (absolute values) of bers decreases, and the natural frequency
the girder at L/4 span of CTAB is 575.5 mm, decreases.
while there is no upper deflection of the girder
of MTAB. In conclusion, when the steel consumption is the
same, the natural frequency of the first in-plane vibra-
In conclusion, under the same amount of steel con- tion of MTAB is still significantly higher than that of
sumption, the stiffness of MTAB is much greater than CTAB, while the natural frequencies of other vibration
that of CTAB, and the more layers of triangular nets, modes have little differences. The number of layers and
the greater the stiffness. The structure will not deflect the cross-section size of the triangular net have a great
Qiu et al. 15

side bending (same side of

First order of symmetrical

First order of symmetrical

side bending (reverse side
correlation with the natural frequency and vibration

First order symmetrical

triangular net structure

mode of MTAB.

Modal characteristics

of girder and arch)

First order of anti-
symmetric torsion

Local vibration of
girder and arch)

vertical bending
Three-layer triangular net
FE analysis of structural stability
Under the combined action of dead load and moving
load, the first bucking stability analysis and geometric
nonlinear stability analysis are carried out. Due to the
article length, the first five stability coefficients and
v (Hz)

0.2562

0.3455

0.6095

0.7292

0.7340
instability modes of the model are calculated. The spe-
cific results are shown in Table 8, and the stability cal-
culation results considering geometric non-linearity are
shown in Table 9.
side bending (same side of
First order of symmetrical

First order of symmetrical

side bending (reverse side

The results of FE software analysis show that:

First order symmetrical

Second order of anti-
Modal characteristics

of girder and arch)

First order of anti-
symmetric torsion

symmetric torsion
1) The first order instability modes of CTAB and
girder and arch)
Double-layer triangular net

vertical bending
MTAB are arch rib out-of-plane symmetry, the
stability coefficient of the former is 12.89, while
the stability coefficient of the latter is slightly
lower than the former due to the increase of tri-
angular net structure. The stability coefficient
of MTAB is slightly lower than that of CTAB,
v (Hz)

0.2495

0.3296

0.6101

0.7167

0.7178

but the difference is not significant;

2) After the number of triangular net layers
increases, the stability coefficient decreases
slowly with the decrease of the size. However,
side bending (same side of
First order of symmetrical

First order of symmetrical

side bending (reverse side

First order symmetrical

when in-plane instability occurs, the stability

Second order of anti-
Modal characteristics

coefficient of the CTAB is only 27.22, while the

of girder and arch)
First order of anti-
symmetric torsion

symmetric torsion

order of in-plane instability of MTAB is very

girder and arch)

vertical bending
Table 7. The first five natural frequencies and mode shapes of the calculation model.

high, and the stability coefficient is greatly

One-layer triangular net

improved;
3) When there is one-layer triangular net in
MTAB, the order of in-plane instability is the
nineth, and the stability coefficient is 40.09,
which is 47.28% higher than the CTAB;
v (Hz)

0.2718

0.3935

0.6409

0.7399

0.8030
MTAB

4) When there is double-layer of triangular net in

MTAB, the order of in-plane instability is the
17th, and the stability coefficient is 53.63, which
is 97.02% higher than the CTAB;
symmetrical side bending

symmetrical side bending

First order of arch anti-

5) When there is double-layer of triangular net in

Modal characteristics

First order of girder

First order of girder

symmetrical vertical

MTAB, there is no in-plane instability in the

symmetric vertical

symmetric torsion
First order anti-

first 100 orders;

Second order

6) Considering the geometric non-linearity, the

stability load coefficient of CTAB is 12.50, and
bending

bending

that of the MTAB is slightly lower, but the dif-

ference between them is very small.

In conclusion, the triangular net can greatly

v (Hz)

0.2450

0.2984

0.3314

0.6246

0.6444
CTAB

improve the in-plane stability of the structure, and the

more layers, the more significant the effect is. For the
arch bridge which needs to increase the rise height to
Mode orders

ensure the in-plane stability, it can reduce the rise span

ratio and reduce the difficulty of bridge construction.
Adding triangular net will weaken the out-of-plane
stability of the structure slightly, but it can eliminate
1

5
16 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)

Table 9. Stability calculation results of considering geometric

symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

non-linearity.

Out-of-plane anti-

Out-of-plane anti-
Instability modes

Out-of-plane

Out-of-plane

Out-of-plane
CTAB MTAB
Three-layer triangular net

One-layer Double-layer Three-layer

triangular net triangular net triangular net

12.50 11.01 10.91 10.88

coefficient
Stability

11.14

11.66

17.96

19.21

25.61
the adverse effects by reducing the rise span ratio and
inclining the arch rib inward.
symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

Out-of-plane anti-
Instability modes

Conclusions
Out-of-plane

Out-of-plane

Out-of-plane

Out-of-plane
Double-layer triangular net

The MTAB is studied in this paper. The static load test

was carried out by building the test bridge, and the
mechanical properties of different structural forms are
analyzed by using the FE software. The advantages of
the mechanical properties of this bridge are verified.
coefficient
Stability

11.17

11.68

17.92

19.27

25.69

1) The structure of MTAB has higher strength

and bearing capacity. In the static load test,
compared with the CTAB, the maximum stress
of MTAB are reduced especially in arch rib
symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

(reduced by 40.81%–66.97%) and girder

Out-of-plane anti-

Out-of-plane anti-
Instability modes

(reduced by 27.24%–28.57%), which are in

Out-of-plane

Out-of-plane

Out-of-plane

good agreement with the FE analysis. In terms

One-layer triangular net

of the FE analysis results of 488 m span double

track high-speed railway bridges, the overall
stress of MTAB is also reduced compared with
CTAB under the same amount of steel
coefficient

consumption.
Stability
Table 8. The calculation results of the first bucking stability analysis.

2) The structure of MTAB has higher overall

MTAB

11.26

11.70

18.10

19.61

25.91

structural stiffness. In the static load test, com-

pared with the CTAB, the lower and upper
deflection of girder in MTAB is reduced by
symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

symmetry of arch rib

42.08% and 97.09% respectively, which are in

Out-of-plane anti-

Out-of-plane anti-

Out-of-plane anti-

good agreement with the FE analysis. In terms

Instability modes

of the FE analysis results of 488 m span double

Out-of-plane

Out-of-plane

track high-speed railway bridges, the stiffness

of MTAB is improved compared with CTAB
under the same amount of steel consumption.
3) The structure of MTAB has better dynamic
characteristics. The FE analysis results of
coefficient

488 m span double track high-speed railway

Stability
CTAB

12.89

13.97

23.35

26.15

27.22

bridges show the natural frequencies of MTAB

with one-three layers of triangular net are
improved by 123.3%, 116.6%, and 120.0%
Instability orders

respectively compared with CTAB when in-

plane vibration occurs for the first time.When
out-of-plane vibration occurs for the first time,
the natural frequency of MTAB is slightly
higher than that of CTAB.
1

5
Qiu et al. 17

4) The structure of MTAB has better stability. Farahmand-Tabar S and Barghian M (2020a) Response con-
The FE analysis results of 488 m span double trol of cable-stayed arch bridge using modified hanger sys-
track high-speed railway bridges show the stabi- tem. Journal of Vibration & Control 26: 2316–2328. DOI:
lity coefficients of MTAB with one to two 10.1177/1077546320921635.
layers of triangular net are improved by 47.28% Farahmand-Tabar S and Barghian M (2020b) Formulating
and 97.02% respectively compared with CTAB. the optimum parameters of modified hanger system in the
cable-arch bridge to restrain force fluctuation and over-
In terms of three-layer of triangular net in
stressing problems, Journal of the Brazilian Society of
MTAB, there is no in-plane instability in the
Mechanical Sciences and Engineering, 42(9): 322-330.
first 100 orders. DOI: 10.1007/s40430-020-02513-0
Gao ZH and Zhou HP (2014) The influence of transverse
To sum up, the MTAB has good mechanical prop- bracing on the dynamic characteristics of through
erties and economy, and can be applied to the con- concrete-filled steel tube arch bridge. Gansu Science and
struction of extra long span, heavy load, and high- Technology 30(4): 87–89 + 66.
speed railway bridge. Gou HY, He YN, Zhou W, et al. (2018) Experimental and
numerical investigations of the dynamic responses of an
asymmetrical arch railway bridge. Proceedings of the Insti-
Declaration of conflicting interests tution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with and Rapid Transit 223(9): 2309–2323. DOI: 10.1177/
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this 0954409718766929.
article. Cai JG, Xu YX, Feng J, et al. (2012) Effects of temperature
variations on the in-plane stability of steel arch bridges.
Journal of Bridge Engineering 17(2): 232–240. DOI:
Funding 10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0000208.
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial sup- LaFronz NJ, Peterson DE, Turton RD, et al. (2004) Geolo-
port for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this gic characterization, Colorado river bridge foundations,
article: The authors are grateful for the grants awarded by Hoover Dam Bypass. In: Geotechnical engineering for
the Guangxi Key R&D Plan (No. Guangxi Sciences transportation projects, Los Angeles, CA, 27–31 July 2004.
AB18126047) and the Systematic Project of Guangxi Key American Society of Civil Engineers/GEO Institute.
Laboratory of Disaster Prevention and Structural Safety Lee SY, Park KH and Roh H (2013) Experimental fatigue
(No. 2016ZDX0001). The grant have supported the works evaluation of prestressed concrete-filled steel tube I-
described in this paper. shaped bridge girders. Advances in Structural Engineer-
ing.16(5): 867–876. DOI: 10.1260/1369-4332.16.5.867.
Li LY, Cheng ZQ and Ge YJ (2008) Effects of arch rib cross-
ORCID iD bars on dynamic and stabilization characteristics of con-
Mulin Pang https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4388-8145 crete filled steel tubular arch bridge. Journal of Highway
and Transportation Research and Development (English
Edition) 3(2): 98–103. DOI: 10.1061/JHTRCQ.0000253.
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