Original Article

Efficient transient dynamic analysis of a crane bridge subjected to shake table tests using non-linear substructuring

¹ Structural Mechanics and Coupled Systems Laboratory, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, 75003 Paris, France
² Université de Lorraine, Arts et Métiers Paris Tech, CNRS, LEM3, Metz 57000, France
³ INSA-Lyon, CNRS, LaMCoS UMR5259, 69621 Villeurbanne, France

^* e-mail: sijia.li@lecnam.net

Received: 30 June 2024
Accepted: 3 February 2025

Abstract

The dynamic behavior of bridge cranes under earthquake is an essential issue for nuclear safety, requiring experimental data and validated numerical simulations. In order to investigate the non-linear seismic response of an experimentally tested bridge crane through a shake table test, three-dimensional transient dynamic analyses are carried out in MATLAB environment using non-linear substructuring for non-smooth transient dynamics in the framework of Heterogeneous Asynchronous Time Integrator. An explicit time integrator is applied in the small contact areas to treat multi-impacts and frictional contacts between wheels and rails with a fine time step satisfying the CFL condition, while an implicit time integrator is adopted with a large time step in the other parts without contact. The non-linear seismic behavior of the mock-up is reproduced in a satisfactory way, such as the frictional sliding and uplift, with an excellent computational efficiency. The different comparisons between numerical and experimental results give a satisfactory agreement in terms of pseudo-acceleration response spectra, displacements and forces transmitted to the anchorage systems of the shake table, demonstrating the ability of the proposed numerical model to predict the non-linear dynamic response of bridge cranes under earthquake excitations.