Simplified analysis of cable-stayed bridges with longitudinal viscous dampers

Purpose: Viscous dampers are commonly used in large span cable-stayed bridges to mitigate seismic effects and have achieved great success. Design/methodology/approach: However, the nonlinear analysis on damper parameters is usually computational intensive and nonobjective. To address these issues, this paper proposes a simplified method to determine the viscous damper parameters for double-tower cable-stayed bridges. An empirical formula of the equivalent damping ratio of viscous dampers is established through decoupling nonclassical damping structures and linearization of nonlinear viscous dampers. Shaking table tests are conducted to verify the feasibility of the proposed method. Moreover, this simplified method has been proved in long-span cable-stayed bridges. Findings: The feasibility of this method is verified by the simplified model shaking table test. This simplified method for determining the parameters of viscous dampers is verified in cable-stayed bridges with different spans. Originality/value: This simplified method has been validated in cable-stayed bridges with various spans.