The web bridge (Q5956732)

The paper deals with optimal cable arrangements for tensile structures, for bridges in particular, drawing inspiration from the wrinkling behavior of flat elastic membranes stretched in their plane. A two-dimensional theory is proposed to model the wrinkling phenomenon in membranes subjected to general in-plane loading, and an iterative procedure is then presented for solving numerically the governing set of nonlinear equilibrium equations in a finite element framework. A simple criterion is used to pass from the continuous natural wrinkled equilibrium configuration of the membrane to a discrete layout, formed by a cable net exploitable in the design of a real bridge. By changing the parameters controlling the shape of the web, various optimal cable arrangements are determined. These turn out to resemble classical cable-stayed bridges or mixed suspended and cable-stayed hybrid solution.