Fatigue Life Estimation for Suspenders of a Three-Pylon Suspension Bridge Based on Vehicle-Bridge-Interaction Analysis.

Fatigue damage of suspenders is a main concern during the life-cycle maintenance of arch bridges and suspension bridges. This paper presents a practical framework for estimating the fatigue life of suspenders under repeated traffic loads by taking a three-pylon suspension bridge as an example. First, the basic theory of vehicle-bridge interaction (VBI) is introduced and a finite element model of the bridge structure is established.