Abstract
Traditional all-steel main cable saddles have high manufacturing costs and pose difficulties in construction and transportation. In addition, research on the optimization of steel-concrete composite main cable saddles in China remains limited. To reveal the evolution of mechanical damage in composite main cable saddles while balancing structural safety and engineering economy, a novel steel-concrete composite main cable saddle was proposed based on the main cable saddle design scheme of a major bridge. Concrete damaged plasticity theory (CDP model ), together with the finite element software Abaqus, was used to optimize and analyze the proposed structure. The effects of steel saddle head design, shear connector configuration, and concrete saddle configuration on the bearing capacity of the composite main cable saddle were systematically investigated. The results show that a flat bottom surface of the upper bearing plate causes significant plastic tensile damage in the concrete saddle, whereas designing the bottom surface of the upper bearing plate as a curved surface can greatly improve the mechanical performance of the steel-concrete composite main cable saddle. Among the three types of shear connectors, including shaped-steel, headed-stud, and PBL shear connectors, extensive plastic tensile damage occurs in the concrete saddle on both sides of the shaped-steel shear connectors. More severe concrete damage occurs on both sides of the PBL shear connectors, with extensive plastic tensile damage developing in the concrete on both sides of the steel plates and in the concrete dowels, whereas the headed-stud shear connectors result in the least plastic tensile damage in the saddle. When the thickness of the upper bearing plate is 75 mm, the concrete saddle has the lowest proportion of damaged area. However, further increasing the steel plate thickness provides only limited improvement in structural performance. To reduce steel consumption, 50 mm is therefore the optimal thickness of the upper bearing plate of the steel saddle head. The optimal slope angle of the concrete saddle on both sides of the saddle head is 45°, at which the concrete saddle sustains relatively little damage. When C 50 concrete is replaced with ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC ), the plastic tensile damage at the center of the saddle is significantly reduced to 0.2 under 3.0 times the design cable force, and the ultimate bearing capacity of the steel-concrete composite main cable saddle is significantly improved. The optimized steel-concrete composite main cable saddle has a reasonable configuration, excellent mechanical performance, and broad application prospects. The results can provide a reference for the engineering design and optimization of main cable saddles for suspension bridges.
Publication Date
10-29-2026
DOI
10.14048/j.issn.1671-2579.2026.05.017
First Page
165
Last Page
173
Submission Date
October 2026
Recommended Citation
Qianglin, Gan; Hongsheng, Xu; Fen, Guo; Mengwei, Ren; and Donghuang, Yan
(2026)
"Structural optimization of steel-concrete composite main cable saddle for suspension bridges,"
Journal of China & Foreign Highway: Vol. 46:
Iss.
5, Article 17.
DOI: 10.14048/j.issn.1671-2579.2026.05.017
Available at:
https://zwgl1980.csust.edu.cn/journal/vol46/iss5/17
Reference
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