Structural behaviors of an arch stiffened by cables

In this paper, the static and dynamic behavior of a cable-stiffened arch is investigated by means of numerical and experimental methods. The pre-tension introducing experiment, the loading experiment and the free vibration experiment are carried out and the experimental results are compared with the numerical analysis. From the pre-tension introducing experiment, it is shown that pre-tension of a cable can be effectively introduced through using length-adjustable struts and a reversed process method. In the loading experiment, the loading ability of the cable-stiffened arch is examined and it is found that the buckling load of the experimental model increases greatly when cable is used. Natural frequency and mode damping ratio from the first mode to the fourth mode are measured by means of the free vibration experiment. Damping ratio increases greatly when cable is used. It is also found that the amplitude of displacement and the pre-tension of cable have influences on the damping ratio.