Study on strength of bracket plates and web plates for unseating prevention cables by falling weight test

Abstract

Unseating prevention cables have been widely used to avoid bridges from unseating. However, it has not been thoroughly investigated that whether brackets and web plates where unseating prevention cables are connected are adequately designed against the loading during earthquakes. In this study, a steel girder with unseating prevention cables were loaded in tension by the falling weight simulating the case that a girder is unseated, then unseating prevention cables become active as the girder is falling down. Test results indicated that the elongation of the unseating prevention cables and the displacement of the falling weight were related by simple equations. It was also found that the brackets and the web panels have adequate strength against the loading by falling weight.