Improve the stability of the rolling bridge by changing the shape of the internal mechanism

Abstract

The London-designed Rolling Bridge inspired this study by Thomas Heatherwick to add stability to this bridge. This study aims to analyze what structures can increase the bridge's overall stability and determine the basic parameters. Finally, it revealed the structural type of this structure. This study uses force analysis, Pythagorean theorem and calculation of degrees of freedom to determine that the new structure is more stable than the original structure. In the study, the total length and number of segments were assumed to be constant to study the effect on geometry and static height during deployment. The study concluded that when the bridge's internal structure is triangular, the bridge is more stable than the original design in the folded state—the internal structure changes from triangular to trapezoidal when the bridge is extended to a horizontal position. When the bridge changes from the horizontal position to the folded state, the internal structure changes from trapezoidal to triangular. Meanwhile, hydraulic columns are mainly used to lift and bend bridges. Each structure has five nodes and five segments. Despite the increasing number and complexity of computations, the variable triangular structure is more stable than the fixed trapezoidal structure.