Experimental Research and FEM Analysis of Steel Corbel in Pylon Cable Anchor Zone of Cable-Stayed Bridge

The steel-anchor beam and steel corbel composite structure is the new type structure in the anchor zone on pylon of cable-stayed bridge. The steel corbel has an important supporting effect on the entire system. In order to investigate the structural behaviors of this type of structure, a full scale model test and 3D FEM analysis were conducted. From the experimental study, it could be found that the bearing load requirements for steel corbel in the structure can be satisfied. The stress is bigger at the welds of the steel corbel, and the stress is less in the far area from the welds. The analysis results show that the stiffened plates can effectively reduce the stress concentration of the steel corbel and the calculating results coincide with the experimental results. Moreover, the capacity of resisting design load and eccentric load is higher. It can be concluded that this new structure is advantageous in mechanical behaviors, and should be more widely studied and applied.