Tips

• As of V14.0.0 of the program, the bridge modeler creates tendon sections that are then also available via "Define > Section Properties > Tendon Sections". However, these tendon sections should not be edited outside of the bridge modeler since they may get overwritten the next time the bridge object is updated. Therefore, all bridge modeler tendons should be edited using the bridge modeler.

Bridge ModelerThis page describes topics related to bridge tendons.

On this page:

Generation of tendon layout within bridge girders

The tendon layout within individual bridge girders is generated as follows:

• Layouts for all tendons are defined based on the bridge layout line and then "projected" transversely to each girder or to specified offset distances along the mesh lines, which are the bridge-object section-cut orientations.
• Mesh lines are typically perpendicular to the layout line, but may be skewed in the vicinity of skewed bridge supports, diaphragms (cross-frames), or user-defined discretization points.
• The projected tendon profile may be distorted from that defined on the layout line when the discretization lines are not parallel, such as due to a curved layout line or to changing skew of the mesh lines.
• The impact of this distortion can be eliminated by defining user discretization points with bearing angles set to match the desired direction of the projection. This provides some degree of flexibility to control the tendon generation.

Bridge tendon tips

• The bridge modeler creates bridge tendons which users may modify through the Define > Section Properties > Tendon Sections menu. Please edit tendons within the bridge modeler, and not outside, as their properties may be overwritten during update.