• Wind and Structures
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.67-75
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• 1998

Tiger Gate Bridge, a steel suspension bridge with a main span of 888 m and a stiffening box girder, is located at the Pearl River Estuary, Guangdong Province, one of the typhoon-prone area in China. Focusing on the developing of the full aeroelastic model of the bridge and simulation of the wind field of the bridge site in a large boundary wind tunnel at Tongji University, Shanghai, China, some main results about the wind resistant properties of the bridge including aerodynamic instability, buffeting responses both being in operation and erection stages by using of a full aeroelastic model wind tunnel testing are introduced. Some of analytical approaches to those aerodynamic behaviours are also presented, and compared with experimental data of the testing.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.565-587
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• 2013

Obvious vortex induced vibration (VIV) was observed during section model wind tunnel tests for a single main cable suspension bridge. An optimized section configuration was found for mitigating excessive amplitude of vibration which is much larger than the one prescribed by Chinese code. In order to verify the maximum amplitude of VIV for optimized girder, a full bridge aeroelastic model wind tunnel test was carried out. The differences between section and full aeroelastic model testing results were discussed. The maximum amplitude derived from section model tests was first interpreted into prototype with a linear VIV approach by considering partial or imperfect correlation of vortex-induced aerodynamic force along span based on Scanlan's semi-empirical linear model. A good consistency between section model and full bridge model was found only by considering the correlation of vortex-induced force along span.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.199-213
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• 2022

The current study investigates the dynamic effects in the tornado-structure response of an aeroelastic self-supported lattice transmission tower model tested under laboratory simulated tornado-like vortices. The aeroelastic model is designed for a geometric scale of 1:65 and tested under scaled down tornadoes in the Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment (WindEEE) Research Institute. The simulated tornadoes have a similar length scale of 1:65 compared to the full-scale. An extensive experimental parametric study is conducted by offsetting the stationary tornado center with respect to the aeroelastic model. Such aeroelastic testing of a transmission tower under laboratory tornadoes is not reported in the literature. A multiaxial load cell is mounted underneath the base plate to measure the base shear forces and overturning moments applied to the model in three perpendicular directions. A three-axis accelerometer is mounted at the level of the second cross-arm to measure response accelerations to evaluate the natural frequencies through a free-vibration test. Radial, tangential, and axial velocity components of the tornado wind field are measured using cobra probes. Sensitivity analyses are conducted to assess the variation of the structural dynamic response associated with the location of the tornado relative to the lattice transmission tower. Three different layouts representing the change in the orientation of the tower model relative to the components of the tornado-induced loads are considered. The structural responses of the aeroelastic model in terms of base shear forces, overturning moments, and lateral accelerations are measured. The results are utilized to understand the dynamic response of self-supported transmission towers to the tornado-induced loads.

• 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.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.393-409
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• 2013

This paper uses ten years of on-site monitoring data for the Confederation Bridge to derive wind loads and investigate whether the bridge has experienced its design wind force effects since its completion in 1997. The load effects derived using loads from the on-site monitoring data are compared to the load effects derived using loads from the 1994 and 2009 wind tunnel aerodynamic model tests. The research shows, for the first time, that the aerodynamic model-based methodology originally developed in 1994 is a very accurate method for deriving wind loads for structural design. The research also confirms that the bridge has not experienced its specified (i.e., unfactored) wind force effects since it was opened to traffic in 1997, even during the most severe event that has occurred during this period.