TVTδ Concept for Long-Span Glass–Steel Footbridges
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 25, Issue 1
Abstract
Transparency and structural lightness are inspiring ideas in the design of footbridges. Glass is the most performing transparent material to be used for structural purposes because of its high compressive strength, chemical stability, and absence of fatigue and viscosity phenomena at room temperature. However, its fragility constitutes a challenging limit in structural applications. This research provides and discusses a specific concept named TVTδ (Travi Vitree Tensegrity) for lightweight long-span beam-like footbridges made of structural glass. Hence, two design approaches of fail-safe design (FSD) and damage avoidance design (DAD) are applied to guarantee adequate safety levels and postcracking serviceability, respectively, with low damages on the main components. FSD provides the adoption of structural collaboration between glass and steel. Following DAD, glass is segmented into triangular panels, and reciprocal diffuse prestress is performed by steel tendons. This strategy assures low rehabilitation costs because only collapsed elements should be replaced once failed. At ultimate limit state (ULS), the TVTδ footbridge attains a global ductile behavior in which the yielding of steel tendons occurs before any fragile failure. Such result is achieved through a hierarchic calibration of the chain of failures. In glass panels, which are mostly precompressed, the buckling failure, representing the main risk, is delayed by the mutual stabilization of the panels’ compressed edges with steel clamping. However, because an accidental event may cause a localized or diffuse brittle failure of glass components, the system is designed to maintain a residual load bearing capacity in this scenario. At the serviceability limit state (SLS), the TVTδ footbridge is highly stiffened by the presence of glass panes, partially encased in metallic frames. Crack initiation is delayed by precompression.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are proprietary or confidential in nature and may only be provided with restrictions. TVT is a patented product. FEM models can be provided for research purposes.
Acknowledgments
The authors of this paper were awarded with a Merit Award and ranked 2nd place in the International Competition WIBE Prize (World Innovation in Bridge Engineering) 2017 edition, with a project entitled “The TVT δ ‘Rainbow’ bridge: A new technique for long-spanned, highly transparent footbridges.” The four juries were constituted by members indicated by the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE), Fédération internationale du béton (fib), International Association for Bridge Maintenance and Safety (IABMAS), AISC, European Council of Civil Engineers (ECCE), and ASCE. This paper has been published with the permission of the WIBE Committee. The first author wishes to acknowledge the following people for their contribution in the development of the TVT prototypes: D. Pardini, S. Serracchiani, A. Russo, L. Lani, G. Masiello, V. Mamone, M. Giammattei, and D. Maesano.
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Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 25 • Issue 1 • January 2020
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 7, 2018
Accepted: Aug 18, 2019
Published online: Oct 25, 2019
Published in print: Jan 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Mar 25, 2020
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