• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.549-569
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• 2013

A passive control using flaps will be an alternative solution for flutter stability and buffeting response of a long suspension bridge. This method not only enables a lightweight economic stiffening girder without an additional stiffness for aerodynamic stability but also avoid the problems from the malfunctions of control systems and energy supply system of an active control by winglets and flaps. A time domain approach for predicting the coupled flutter and buffeting response of bridge deck with flaps is investigated. First, the flutter derivatives of bridge deck and flaps are found by experiment. Next, the derivation of time domain model of self-excited forces and control forces of sectional model is reported by using the rational function approximation. Finally, the effectiveness of passive flap control is investigated by the numerical simulation. The results show that the passive control by using flaps can increase the flutter speed and decrease the buffeting response. The experiment results are matched with numerical ones.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.505-518
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• 2001

Shantou Bay Bridge is the first long-span suspension bridge in China. Because of its location near the Shantou Seaport and its exposure to high typhoon winds, wind-resistant studies are necessary to be made. In this paper, critical flutter wind speeds and buffeting responses of this bridge at its operation and main construction stages are investigated. The Buffeting Response Spectrum method is first briefly presented. Then the sectional model test is carried out to directly obtain the critical flutter wind speed and to identify the flutter derivatives, which are adopted for the later analysis of the buffeting responses using the Buffeting Response Spectrum method. Finally the aeroelastic full bridge model is tested to further investigate the dynamic effects of the bridge. The results from the tests and the computations indicate that the flutter and buffeting behaviors of the Shantou Bay Bridge are satisfied.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.153-165
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• 2011

The alternative solution for flutter and buffeting stability of a long suspension bridge will be a passive control using flaps. This method not only enables a lightweight economic stiffening girder without an additional stiffness for aerodynamic stability but also avoid the problems from the malfunctions of control systems and energy supply system of an active control by winglets and flaps. A mechanically control using flaps for increasing flutter speed and decreasing buffeting response of a suspension bridge is experimentally studied through a two dimensional bridge deck model. The result shows that the flutter speed is increased and the buffeting response is decreased through the mechanical drive of the flaps.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.179-196
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• 2003

A long suspension bridge is often located within a unique wind environment, and strong winds at the site seldom attack the bridge at a right angle to its long axis. This paper thus investigates the buffeting response of long suspension bridges to skew winds. The conventional buffeting analysis in the frequency domain is first improved to take into account skew winds based on the quasi-steady theory and the oblique strip theory in conjunction with the finite element method and the pseudo-excitation method. The aerodynamic coefficients and flutter derivatives of the Tsing Ma suspension bridge deck under skew winds, which are required in the improved buffeting analysis, are then measured in a wind tunnel using specially designed test rigs. The field measurement data, which were recorded during Typhoon Sam in 1999 by the Wind And Structural Health Monitoring System (WASHMS) installed on the Tsing Ma Bridge, are analyzed to obtain both wind characteristics and buffeting responses. Finally, the field measured buffeting responses of the Tsing Ma Bridge are compared with those from the computer simulation using the improved method and the aerodynamic coefficients and flutter derivatives measured under skew winds. The comparison is found satisfactory in general.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.267-284
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• 1999

Multiple tuned mass dampers are proposed to suppress the vertical and torsional buffeting and to increase the aerodynamic stability of long-span bridges. Each damper has vertical and torsional frequencies, which are tuned to the corresponding frequencies of the structural modes to suppress the resonant effects. These proposed dampers maintain the advantage of traditional multiple mass dampers, but have the added capability of simultaneously controlling vertical and torsional buffeting responses. The aerodynamic coupling is incorporated into the formulations, allowing this model to effectively increase the critical speed of a bridge for either single-degree-of-freedom flutter or coupled flutter. The reduction of dynamic response and the increase of the critical speed through the attachment of the proposed dampers to the bridge are also discussed. Through a parametric analysis, the characteristics of the multiple tuned mass dampers are studied and the design parameters - including mass, damping, frequency bandwidth, and total number of dampers - are proposed. The results indicate that the proposed dampers effectively suppress the vertical and the torsional buffeting and increase the structural stability. Moreover, these tuned mass dampers, designed within the recommended parameters, are not only more effective but also more robust than a single TMD against wind-induced vibration.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.367-384
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• 2017

The Maanshan Bridge over Yangtze River in China is a new long-span suspension bridge with double main spans of $2{\times}1080m$ and a closed streamline cross-section of single box deck. The flutter and buffeting performances were investigated via wind tunnel tests of a full bridge aeroelastic model at a geometric scale of 1:211. The tests were conducted in both smooth wind and simulated boundary layer wind fields. Emphasis is placed on studying the interference effect of adjacent span via installing a wind deflector and a wind separating board to shelter one span of the bridge model from incoming flow. Issues related to effects of mid-tower stiffness and deck supporting conditions are also discussed. The testing results show that flutter critical wind velocities in smooth flow, with a wind deflector, are remarkably lower than those without. In turbulent wind, torsional and vertical standard deviations for the deck responses at midspan in testing cases without wind deflector are generally less than those at the midspan exposed to wind in testing cases with wind deflector, respectively. When double main spans are exposed to turbulent wind, the existence of either span is a mass damper to the other. Furthermore, both effects of mid-tower stiffness and deck supporting conditions at the middle tower on the flutter and buffeting performances of the Maanshan Bridge are unremarkable.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.46-57
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• 2013

Flutter stability and buffeting response have been the topics of most concern in the design state of long-span suspension bridges. Among approaches towards the aerodynamic stability, the aerodynamic-based control method which uses control surfaces to generate forces counteracting the unstable excitations has shown to be promising. This study focused on the mechanically controlled system using flaps; two flaps were attached on both sides of a bridge deck and were driven by the motions of the bridge deck. When the flaps moved, the overall cross section of the bridge deck containing these flaps was continuously changing. As a consequence, the aerodynamic forces also changed. The efficiency of the control was studied through the numerical simulation and experimental investigations. The values of quasi-steady forces, together with the experimental aerodynamic force coefficients, were proposed in the simulation. The results showed that the passive flap control can, with appropriate motion of the flaps, solve the aerodynamic instability. The efficiency of the flap control on the full span of a simple suspension bridge was also carried out. The mode-by-mode technique was applied for the investigation. The results revealed that the efficiency of the flap control relates to the mode number, the installed location of the flap, and the flap length.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.173-186
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• 2004

Flutter derivatives provide the basis of predicting the critical wind speed in flutter and buffeting analysis of long-span cable-supported bridges. In this paper, one popular stochastic system identification technique, covariance-driven Stochastic Subspace Identification(SSI in short), is firstly presented for estimation of the flutter derivatives of bridge decks from their random responses in turbulent flow. Secondly, wind tunnel tests of a streamlined thin plate model and a ${\Pi}$ type blunt bridge section model are conducted in turbulent flow and the flutter derivatives are determined by SSI. The flutter derivatives of the thin plate model identified by SSI are very comparable to those identified by the unifying least-square method and Theodorson's theoretical values. As to the ${\Pi}$ type section model, the effect of turbulence on aerodynamic damping seems to be somewhat notable, therefore perhaps the wind tunnel tests for flutter derivative estimation of those models with similar blunt sections should be conducted in turbulent flow.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.895-903
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• 2004

In this paper are presented the blade vibration characteristics at the starting conditions of the low pressure multistage axial compressor of heavy-duty 100 MW gas turbine. Vibration data have been collected through strain gauges during aerodynamic tests of the model compressor. The influences of operating modes at the starting conditions are investigated upon the compressor blade vibrations. The exciting mechanisms and features of blade vibrations are investigated at the surge, rotating stall, and buffeting flutter. The influences of operating modes upon blade dynamic stresses are investigated for the first and second stages. It is shown that a high dynamic stress peak of 120 MPa can occur in the first stage blades due to resonances with stall cell excitations or with inlet strut wake excitations at the stalled conditions.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.263-278
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• 2003

This study investigates the effects of a bridge deck's width-to-depth (B/H) ratio and turbulence on buffeting response and flutter critical wind speed of long-span bridges by conducting section model tests. A streamlined box section and a plate girder section, each with four B/H ratios, were tested in smooth and turbulent flows. The results show that for the box girders, the response increases with the B/H ratio, especially in the vertical direction. For the plate girders, the vertical response also increases with the B/H ratio. However, the torsional response decreases as the B/H ratio increases. Increasing the B/H ratio and intensity of turbulence tends to improve the bridge's aerodynamic stability. Experimental results obtained from the section model tests agree reasonably with the calculated results obtained from a numerical analysis.