Abstract: In recent years, local component destruction, collapse failure and the control of long-span cable-stayed bridges under strong multi-support excitations have received increasing attention. In this paper, two kinds of nonlinear finite element (FE) models are established to simulate the seismic responses and failure modes of a multi-span cable-stayed bridge scale model under multi-support excitations. One is the single girder model which is used to simulate the seismic response during four wave excitations. It can be concluded that the FE analysis results of the scale model are a good fit with those from the shaking table tests. The other one is the explicit dynamic FE model which is used to simulate the collapse and failure mechanisms of the scale model during strong earthquakes. The aggressive failure processes of the scale model under two different types of wave excitations were compared to reproduce the mechanisms in which the bearing at the middle tower failed under the El Centro (EC) wave (4.0 m/s²), and we also observed the connection failure of the cables and towers, and the elements failure of the upper beam in the middle tower, which occurred successively under a Jiangxin (JX) wave (4.0 m/s²). This simulation may be referenced as the basis for the collapse failure of a cable-stayed bridge with a large span during a strong earthquake.

Key words: Multi-span cable-stayed bridge, Multi-support excitations, Nonlinear finite element model, Nonlinear dynamic analysis, Collapse failure, Failure mode

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