The objective of this paper is to expediently expose the seismic performance pertinent to demand and capacity of general long-span suspension bridges crossing active faults. Firstly three dimensional finite element model of the ordinary long-span suspension bridge is established based on the powerful and attractive finite element software ANSYS. Secondly a series of appropriate fault ground motions with different target final permanent displacements (Tectonic displacements or ground offset) in the direction perpendicular to the fault plane are assumed and applied to the employed long-span suspension bridge. And then the Newmark method is utilized to solve the equation of motion of the long-span suspension bridge structure subjected to fault ground motions in the elastic range. Finally some important conclusions are drawn that the final permanent displacements in the direction perpendicular to the fault plane has significant influence on the seismic responses and demands of general long-span suspension bridges crossing active faults. And the resultant conclusions deliver explicitly and directly specifications and guidelines for seismic design of ordinary long-span suspension bridges across fault-rupture zones.

Recent seismic events have unequivocally highlighted the susceptibility of fault-crossing bridges to the synergistic effects of ground surface vibrations on either side of the fault plane and the tectonic dislocations arising from fault-induced surface ruptures. This study delineates both seismic and parametric response analyses of fault-crossing suspension bridges, employing a straightforward yet efficacious method for simulating desired ground motions near fault-rupture zones. Herein, we introduce a user-friendly method to incorporate predicted fault-induced displacements, accounting for both fling-step and directivity effects, into processed ground motion chronologies, enabling the generation of dip-slip fault ground motions. The accuracy and efficacy of the proposed method are affirmed by juxtaposing the generated ground motions with the observed ones (MGM). An exhaustive parametric analysis, addressing factors like fault-crossing location, fault-crossing angle, and frequency components of fault-crossing ground motions, of a suspension bridge over a rupture fault, is executed using the fashionable ANSYS software. This study provides clear and specific guidelines for the seismic design of suspension bridges traversing rupture faults.