Abstract
Presented in this paper is an analytical study on ultimate limit states of a long-span suspension bridge during large-scale earthquakes. Dynamic analyses incorporating collapses of structural members, as well as both geometric and material nonlinearities, were performed in order to simulate seismic behaviors until the ultimate limit states of the Akashi-kaikyo Bridge, the world-longest suspension bridge. For the analyses, increased site-specific large-scale earthquakes were applied in order to investigate the ultimate limit states. As a result, the seismic performance against greater than site-specific large-scale earthquakes and possible collapse processes reaching the ultimate limit state of the model bridge were verified.
