• Wind and Structures
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.249-265
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• 2017

An efficient and accurate algorithm is proposed to estimate flutter safety factor of suspension bridges satisfying prescribed reliability levels. Uncertainties which arise from the basic wind speed at the bridge deck location, critical flutter velocity, the wind conversion factor from a scaled model to the prototype structure and the gust speed factor are incorporated. The proposed algorithm integrates the concepts of the inverse reliability method and the calculation method of the critical flutter velocity of suspension bridges. The unique feature of the proposed method is that it offers a tool for flutter safety assessment of suspension bridges, when the reliability level is specified as a target to be satisfied by the designer. Accuracy and efficiency of this method with reference to three example suspension bridges is studied and numerical results validate its superiority over conventional deterministic method. Finally, the effects of various parameters on the flutter safety factor of suspension bridges are also investigated.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.209-221
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• 2012

The flutter reliability analysis of long span bridges requires use of a software tool that predicts the uncertainty in a flutter response due to uncertainties in the model formulation and input parameters. Existing flutter analysis numerical codes are not capable of dealing with stochastic uncertainty in the analysis of long span bridges. The goal of the present work is to develop a software tool (FREASB) to enable designers to efficiently and accurately conduct flutter reliability analysis of long span bridges. The FREASB interfaces an open-source Matlab toolbox for structural reliability analysis (FERUM) with a typical deterministic flutter analysis code. The paper presents a brief introduction to the generalized first-order reliability method implemented in FREASB and key steps involved in coupling it with a typical deterministic flutter analysis code. A numerical example concerning flutter reliability analysis of a long span suspension bridge with a main span of 1385 m is presented to demonstrate the application and effectiveness of the methodology and the software.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제6권4호
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• pp.279-290
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• 2003

Flutter stability is one of major concerns on the design of long-span cable-stayed bridges. Considering the geometric nonlinearity of cable-stayed bridges and the effects due to the nonlinear wind-structure interactions, a nonlinear method is proposed to analyze the flutter stability of cable-stayed bridges, and a computer program NFAB is also developed. Taking the Jingsha bridge over the Yangtze River as example, parametric analyses on flutter stability of the bridge are carried out, and some important design parameters that affect the flutter stability of cable-stayed bridges are pointed out.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.175-186
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• 2018

With the continuous increase of span lengths, modern bridges are becoming much more flexible and more prone to flutter under wind excitations. A reasonable probabilistic flutter analysis of long-span bridges involving random and uncertain variables may have to be taken into consideration. This paper presents a method for estimating the reliability index and failure probability due to flutter, which considers the very important variables including the extreme wind velocity at bridge site, damping ratio, mathematical modeling, and flutter derivatives. The Aizhai Bridge in China is selected as an example to demonstrate the numerical procedure for the flutter reliability analysis. In the presented method, the joint probability density function of wind speed and wind direction at the deck level of the bridge is first established. Then, based on the fundamental theories of structural reliability, the reliability index and failure probability due to flutter of the Aizhai Bridge is investigated by applying the Monte Carlo method and the first order reliability method (FORM). The probabilistic flutter analysis can provide a guideline in the design of long-span bridges and the results show that the structural damping and flutter derivatives have significant effects on the flutter reliability, more accurate and reliable data of which is needed.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.1-12
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• 2005

A simplified analysis able to point out the most relevant geometrical and aerodynamic parameters that can influence the flutter of long span modern bridges is the aim of the paper. With this goal, by using a continuous model of the suspension bridge and by a quasi stationary approach, a simple formula of the combined vertical/torsional flutter wind speed is given. A good agreement is obtained comparing the predictions from the proposed formula with the flutter speeds of three modern suspension or cable stayed bridges: the Great Belt East Bridge, the Akashi and Normandie bridges. The paper ends with some comments and comparisons with the well known Selberg formula.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.331-344
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• 2006

The cable-stayed-suspension hybrid bridge is a cooperative system developed from the traditional cable-stayed and suspension bridges, and takes some advantages of the two bridge systems. It is also becoming a competitive design alternative for some long and super long-span bridges. But due to its great flexibility, the flutter stability plays an important role in the design and construction of this bridge system. Considering the geometric nonlinearity of bridge structures and the effects of nonlinear wind-structure interaction, method and its solution procedure of three-dimensional nonlinear flutter stability analysis are firstly presented. Parametric analyses on the flutter stability of a cable-stayed-suspension hybrid bridge with main span of 1400 meters are then conducted by nonlinear flutter stability analysis, some design parameters that significantly influence the flutter stability are pointed out, and the favorable structural system of the bridge is also discussed based on the wind stability.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제38권1호
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• pp.43-58
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• 2024

To ensure the flutter stability of three-tower suspension bridges under skew wind, by using the computational procedure of 3D refined flutter analysis of long-span bridges under skew wind, in which structural nonlinearity, the static wind action(also known as the aerostatic effect) and the full-mode coupling effect etc., are fully considered, the flutter stability of a three-tower suspension bridge-the Taizhou Bridge over the Yangtze River in completion and during the deck erection is numerically investigated under the constant uniform skew wind, and the influences of skew wind and aerostatic effects on the flutter stability of the bridge under the service and construction conditions are assessed. The results show that the flutter critical wind speeds of three-tower suspension bridge under service and construction conditions fluctuate with the increase of wind yaw angle instead of a monotonous cosine rule as the decomposition method proposed, and reach the minimum mostly in the case of skew wind. Both the skew wind and aerostatic effects significantly reduce the flutter stability of three-tower suspension bridge under the service and construction conditions, and the combined skew wind and aerostatic effects further deteriorate the flutter stability. Both the skew wind and aerostatic effects do not change the evolution of flutter stability of the bridge during the deck erection, and compared to the service condition, they lead to a greater decrease of flutter critical wind speed of the bridge during deck erection, and the influence of the combined skew wind and aerostatic effects is more prominent. Therefore, the skew wind and aerostatic effects must be considered accurately in the flutter analysis of three-tower suspension bridges.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제11권3호
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• pp.209-220
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• 2008

Flutter derivatives provide the basis of predicting the critical wind speed in flutter and buffeting analysis of long-span cable-supported bridges. Many studies have been performed on the methods and applications of identification of flutter derivatives of bridge decks under wind action. In fact, strong wind, especially typhoon, is always accompanied by heavy rain. Then, what is the effect of rain on flutter derivatives and flutter critical wind speed of bridges? Unfortunately, there have been no studies on this subject. This paper makes an initial study on this problem. Covariance-driven Stochastic Subspace Identification (SSI in short) which is capable of estimating the flutter derivatives of bridge decks from their steady random responses is presented first. An experimental set-up is specially designed and manufactured to produce the conditions of rain and wind. Wind tunnel tests of a quasi-streamlined thin plate model are conducted under conditions of only wind action and simultaneous wind-rain action, respectively. The flutter derivatives are then extracted by the SSI method, and comparisons are made between the flutter derivatives under the two different conditions. The comparison results tentatively indicate that rain has non-trivial effects on flutter derivatives, especially on and $H_2$ and $A_2$thus the flutter critical wind speeds of bridges.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제5권2_3_4호
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• pp.257-266
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• 2002

In the recent years flow around bridges are investigated using computer modeling. Selvam (1998), Selvam and Bosch (1999), Frandsen and McRobie (1999) used finite element procedures. Larsen and Walther (1997) used discrete vorticity procedure. The aeroelastic instability is a major criterion to be checked for long span bridges. If the wind speed experienced by a bridge is greater than the critical wind speed for flutter, then the bridge fails due to aeroelastic instability. Larsen and Walther (1997) computed the critical velocity for flutter using discrete vortex method similar to wind tunnel procedures. In this work, the critical velocity for flutter will be calculated directly (free oscillation procedure) similar to the approaches reported by Selvam et al. (1998). It is expected that the computational time required to compute the critical velocity using this approach may be much shorter than the traditional approach. The computed critical flutter velocity of 69 m/s is in reasonable comparison with wind tunnel measurement. The no flutter and flutter conditions are illustrated using the bridge response in time.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.275-292
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• 2015

The presence of traffic on a slender long-span bridge deck will modify the cross-section profile of the bridge, which may influence the flutter derivatives and in turn, the critical flutter wind velocity of the bridge. Studies on the influence of vehicles on the flutter derivatives and the critical flutter wind velocity of bridges are rather rare as compared to the investigations on the coupled buffeting vibration of the wind-vehicle-bridge system. A typical streamlined cross-section for long-span bridges is adopted for both experimental and analytical studies. The scaled bridge section model with vehicle models distributed on the bridge deck considering different traffic flow scenarios has been tested in the wind tunnel. The flutter derivatives of the modified bridge cross section have been identified using forced vibration method and the results suggest that the influence of vehicles on the flutter derivatives of the typical streamlined cross-section cannot be ignored. Based on the identified flutter derivatives, the influence of vehicles on the flutter stability of the bridge is investigated. The results show that the effect of vehicles on the flutter wind velocity is obvious.