OPTIMIZATION OF CABLE STAY FORCES IN PRESTRESSED CONCRETE CABLE STAYED BRIDGES UTILIZING MINIMUM COST CRITERION.

One of the problems to be clarified today is how to determine the values of cable stay forces to be introduced when designing the prestressed cable stayed bridges. In the previous study, the authors proposed a method of optimization of cable stay forces where the minimum strain energy criterion was adopted from the structural point of view. Considering the economic aspects of the design, this paper presents another criterion based on the minimum cost. It also discusses a comparison between two criteria. The result shows that the minimum strain energy and minimum cost criteria give almost the same cable forces and costs when span lengths are adequately proportioned.