Thermal effect of the cable-stayed bridge tower

This paper studies the thermal effect of the cable-stayed bridge tower based on full time accurate measurement and finite element analysis on Xiantao Hanjiang River Highway Bridge. The measured results and the displacement variation of top tower show that the tower rotates periodically when it is exposed in sunshine. But the tower column will not decline when there is no sunshine. In spite of in winter or in summer, the period when the tower column changed smallest is from 0∶00 am to 5∶00 am. The time period when the tower column has maximum deviation lags behind the time when the tower column has maximum temperature difference, and this phenomenon is obvious in winter. The conclusions also have directive value in predicting the tower deformations and their directions in construction control of cable-stayed bridge, and in verifying the finite element program. Foundation item: Supported by the National Natural. Science Foundation of China(50278039) Biography: Zhang Hai-long (1949-), male, Professor, research direction: analyzing and programming of bridge structure.