• Wind and Structures
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.245-262
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• 2013

The flow interaction between two identical neighboring twin square prisms in a staggered arrangement in an open terrain was investigated experimentally. The downwind prism was mounted on a rigid-aeroelastic setup in an open-terrain boundary layer flow to measure its acrosswind root-mean-square responses and aerodynamic damping ratios. By varying the relative location of the upwind prism and the Scruton number associated with the downwind prism, the acrosswind aeroelastic behavior of the downwind prism was analyzed and compared to that of an isolated one. Results showed that the acrosswind root-mean-square response of the downwind prism could be either suppressed or enhanced by the wake flow produced by the neighboring upwind prism. Besides the assessment of the wake effect of the downwind prism, finally, regressed relationships were presented to describe the variation of the aerodynamic damping ratio so as to predict its acrosswind fluctuating response numerically.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.71-90
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• 2003

In recent years, high-strength, light-weight materials have been widely used in the construction of high-rise buildings. Such structures generally have flexible, low-damping characteristics. Consequently, wind-induced oscillation greatly affects the structural safety and the comfort of the building's occupants. In this research, wind tunnel experiments were carried out to study the wind-induced vibration of a building with a tuned liquid column damper (TLCD). Then, a model for predicting the aerodynamic response in the across-wind direction was generated. Finally, a computing procedure was developed for the analytical modeling of the structural oscillation in a building with a TLCD under the wind load. The model agrees substantially with the experimental results. Therefore, it may be used to accurately calculate the structural response. Results from this investigation show that the TLCD is more advantageous for reducing the across-wind vibration than the along-wind oscillation. When the across-wind aerodynamic effects are considered, the TLCD more effectively controls the aerodynamic response. Moreover, it is also more useful in suppressing the acceleration than the displacement in biaxial directions. As s result, TLCDs are effective devices for reducing the wind-induced vibration in buildings. Parametric studies have also been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the TLCD in suppressing the structural oscillation. This study may help engineers to more correctly predict the aerodynamic response of high-rise buildings as well as select the most appropriate TLCDs for reducing the structural vibration under the wind load. It may also improve the understanding of wind-structure interactions and wind resistant designs for high-rise buildings.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.397-413
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• 2017

When bridges are constructed with lower heights from the ground, the formed channel between the deck and the ground will inevitably hinder or accelerate the air flow. This in turn will have an impact on the aerodynamic forces on the deck, which may result in unexpected wind-induced responses of bridges. This phenomenon can be referred to "ground effects." So far, no systematic studies into ground effects on the wind-induced responses of closed box girders have been performed. In this paper, wind tunnel tests have been adopted to study the ground effects on the aerodynamic force coefficients and the wind-induced responses of a closed box girder. In correlation with the heights from the ground in two ground roughness, the aerodynamic force coefficients, the Strouhal number ($S_t$), the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) lock-in phenomena over a range of wind velocities, the VIV maximum amplitudes, the system torsional damping ratio, the flutter derivatives, the critical flutter wind speeds and their variation laws correlated with the heights from the ground of a closed box girder have been presented through wind tunnel tests. The outcomes show that the ground effects make the vortex-induced phenomena occur in advance and adversely affect the flutter stability.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2007

The suppression of aerodynamic response of long-span suspension bridges during erection and after completion by using single TMD and multi TMD is presented in this paper. An advanced finite-element-based aerodynamic model that can be used to analyze both flutter instability and buffeting response in the time domain is also proposed. The frequency-dependent flutter derivatives are transferred into a time-dependent rational function, through which the coupling effects of three-dimensional aerodynamic motions under gusty winds can be accurately considered. The modal damping of a structure-TMD system is analyzed by the state-space approach. The numerical examples are performed on the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge with a main span of 1990 m. The bridge is idealized by a three-dimensional finite-element model consisting of 681 nodes. The results show that when the wind velocity is low, about 20 m/s, the multi TMD type 1 (the vertical and horizontal TMD with 1% mass ratio in each direction together with the torsional TMD with ratio of 1% mass moment of inertia) can significantly reduce the buffeting response in vertical, horizontal and torsional directions by 8.6-13%. When the wind velocity increases to 40 m/s, the control efficiency of a multi TMD in reducing the torsional buffeting response increases greatly to 28%. However, its control efficiency in the vertical and horizontal directions reduces. The results also indicate that the critical wind velocity for flutter instability during erection is significantly lower than that of the completed bridge. By pylon-to-midspan configuration, the minimum critical wind velocity of 57.70 m/s occurs at stage of 85% deck completion.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.463-479
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• 2007

A series of wind tunnel sectional model dynamic tests of a twin-deck bridge were conducted at the CLP Power Wind/Wave Tunnel Facility (WWTF) of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) to investigate the effects of gap-width on the self-excited vibrations and the dynamic and aerodynamic characteristics of the bridge. Five 2.9 m long models with different gap-widths were fabricated and suspended in the wind tunnel to simulate a two-degrees-of-freedom (2DOF) bridge dynamic system, free to vibrate in both vertical and torsional directions. The mass, vertical frequency, and the torsional-to-vertical frequency ratio of the 2DOF systems were fixed to emphasize the effects of gap-width. A free-vibration test methodology was employed and the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm (ERA) was utilized to extract the eight flutter derivatives and the modal parameters from the coupled free-decay responses. The results of the zero gap-width configuration were in reasonable agreement with the theoretical values for an ideal thin flat plate in smooth flow and the published results of models with similar cross-sections, thus validating the experimental and analytical techniques utilized in this study. The methodology was further verified by the comparison between the measured and predicted free-decay responses. A comparison of results for different gap-widths revealed that variations of the gap-width mainly affect the torsional damping property, and that the configurations with greater gap-widths show a higher torsional damping ratio and hence stronger aerodynamic stability of the bridge.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.111-127
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• 2019

The tapered and set-back type of unconventional designs have been used earlier in many buildings. These shapes are aerodynamically efficient and offer a significant amount of damping against wind-induced forces and excitations. Various studies have been conducted on these shapes earlier. The present study adopts a hybrid approach of turbulence modelling i.e., Detached-eddy Simulation (DES) to investigate the effect of height modified tapered and set-back buildings on aerodynamic forces and their sensitivity towards pressure. The modifications in the flow field around the building models are also investigated and discussed. Three tapering ratios (T.R.=(Bottom width- Top width)/Height) i.e., 5%, 10%, 15% are considered for tapered and set-back buildings. The results show that, mean and RMS along-wind and across-wind forces are reduced significantly for the aerodynamically modified buildings. The extent of reduction in the forces increases as the taper ratio is increased, however, the set-back modifications are more worthwhile than tapered showing greater reduction in the forces. The pressure distribution on the surfaces of the buildings are analyzed and in the last section, the influence of the flow field on the forces is discussed.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.149-160
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• 2023

Lightness and flexibility of membrane roofs make them very sensitive to any external load. One of the most important parameters that controls their behavior, especially under wind load is the sag/span ratio of edge cables. Based on the value of the pretension force in the edge cables and the horizontal projection of the actual area covered by the membrane, an optimized design range of cable sag/span ratios has been determined through carrying on several membrane form-finding analyses. Fully coupled fluid structure dynamic analyses of these membrane roofs are performed under wind load with several conditions using the CFD method. Through investigating the numerical results of these analyses, the behavior of membrane roofs with cables sag/span ratios selected from the previously determined optimized design range has been evaluated.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.217-228
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• 2004

This paper presents the rotating test techniques and the results of the roating test of the small-scaled hingeless rotor system with composite paddle blades in hover and forward flight conditions. The small-scaled rotor system was designed using froude-scaled properties of full scale rotor system. Metal flexures and composite flexures were made as hub flexures by the same dynamic properties of rotor system. The rotating tests of hingeless rotor system installed in GSRTS at KARI were carried out to get lead-lag damping ratios and aerodynamic loads of the hingeless rotor system. MBA(Moving Block Analysis) technique was used for the estimation of lead-lag damping ratio. 6-components balance was installed between hub and main shaft and straingauges on blades were instrumented for the measurements of aerodynamic loads of rotor system. Tests were performed on the ground and in the wind tunnel according to the test conditions of hover and forward flight, respectively.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.167-186
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• 2011

This paper presents the results of measurements relating to the aerodynamic forces on flat square plates which were allowed to rotate at different speeds about their horizontal axis, by modifying the velocity of the incoming flow. A 1 m square test-sheet and a 0.3 m square test-sheet were fitted with a number of pressure sensors in order to obtain information relating to the instantaneous pressure distribution acting on the test-sheet; a compact gyroscope to record the angular velocity during the rotational motion was also implemented. Previous work on autorotation has illustrated that the angular velocity varies with respect to the torque induced by the wind, the thickness and aspect ratio of the test-sheet, any frictional effects present at the bearings, and the vorticity generated through the interaction between the plate and the wind flow. The current paper sets out a method based on the solution of the equation of motion of a rotating plate which enables the determination of angular velocities on autorotating elements to be predicted. This approach is then used in conjunction with the experimental data in order to evaluate the damping introduced by the frictional effects at the bearings during steady autorotation.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.481-503
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• 2014

A new theoretical model on rain-wind induced vibration (RWIV) of a continuous stay cable is developed in this paper. Different from the existing theoretical analyses in which the cable was modeled as a segmental rigid element, the proposed scheme focuses on the in-plane and out-of-plane responses of a continuous stay cable, which is identical with the prototype cable on cable-stayed bridge. In order to simplify the complexities, the motion law of the rivulet on the cable surface is assumed as a sinusoidal way according to some results obtained from wind tunnel tests. Quasi-steady theory is utilized to determine the aerodynamic forces on the cable. Equations of motion of the cable are derived in a Cartesian Coordinate System and solved by using finite difference method to obtain the in-plane and out-of-plane responses of the cable. The results show that limited cable amplitudes are achieved within a limited range of wind velocity, which is a unique characteristic of RWIV of stay cable. It appears that the in-plane cable amplitude is much larger than the out-of-plane cable amplitude. Rivulet frequency, rivulet distribution along cable axis, and mean wind velocity profile, all have significant effects on the RWIV responses of the prototype stay cable. The effects of damping ratio on RWIVs of stay cables are carefully investigated, which suggests that damping ratio of 1% is needed to well mitigate RWIVs of prototype stay cables.