• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.293-308
• /
• 2021

For the past three decades a significant amount of research has been conducted on bridge flutter. Wind tunnel tests for a 2000 m class twin-box suspension bridge have revealed that a twin-box deck carrying 4 m tall 50% open area ratio wind screens at the deck edges achieved higher critical wind speeds for onset of flutter than a similar deck without wind screens. A result at odds with the well-known behavior for the mono-box deck. The wind tunnel tests also revealed that the critical flutter wind speed increased if the bridge deck assumed a nose-up twist relative to horizontal when exposed to high wind speeds - a phenomenon termed the "nose-up" effect. Static wind tunnel tests of this twin-box cross section revealed a positive moment coefficient at 0° angle of attack as well as a positive moment slope, ensuring that the elastically supported deck would always meet the mean wind flow at ever increasing mean angles of attack for increasing wind speeds. The aerodynamic action of the wind screens on the twin-box bridge girder is believed to create the observed nose-up aerodynamic moment at 0° angle of attack. The present paper reviews the findings of the wind tunnel tests with a view to gain physical insight into the "nose-up" effect and to establish a theoretical model based on numerical simulations allowing flutter predictions for the twin-box bridge girder.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.48 no.3
• /
• pp.395-414
• /
• 2013

The present study fundamentally investigated the mechanical performance of the rib-stiffened super-wide bridge deck with twin box girders in concrete, which is a very popular application to efficiently widen the bridges with normal span. The shear lag effects of the specific cross-sections were firstly studied. The spatial stress distribution and local stiffness of the bridge deck with twin box girders were then investigated under several typical wheel load conditions. Meanwhile, a comparative study for the bridge deck with and without stiffening ribs was also carried out during the investigation; thereby, a design optimization for the stiffening ribs was further suggested. Finally, aiming at the preliminary design, an approximate methodology to manually calculate the bending moments of the rib-stiffened bridge deck was analytically proposed for engineers to quickly assess its performance. This rib-stiffened bridge deck with twin box girders can be widely applied for concrete (especially concrete cable-stayed) bridges with normal span, however, requiring a super-wide bridge width due to the traffic flow.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.255-270
• /
• 2019

Aerodynamic configurations of bridge decks have significant effects on the aerostatic torsional divergence and flutter forsuper long-span bridges, which are onset for selection of suitable bridge decksfor those bridges. Based on a cable-stayed bridge with double main spans of 1500 m, considering typical twin-box, stiffening truss and closed-box section, which are the most commonly used form of bridge decks and assumed that the rigidity of those section is completely equivalent, are utilized to investigate the effects of aerodynamic configurations of bridge decks on aerodynamic instability performance comprised of the aerostatic torsional divergence and flutter, by means of wind tunnel tests and numerical calculations, including three-dimensional (3D) multimode flutter analysis and nonlinear aerostatic analysis. Regarding the aerostatic torsional divergence, the results obtained in this study show twin-box section is the best, closed-box section the second-best, and the stiffening truss section the worst. Regarding the flutter, the flutter stability of the twin-box section is far better than that of the stiffening truss and closed-box section. Furthermore, wind-resistance design depends on the torsional divergence for the twin-box and stiffening truss section. However, there are obvious competitive relationships between the aerostatic torsional divergence and flutter for the closed-box section. Flutter occur before aerostatic instability at initial attack angle of $+3^{\circ}$ and $0^{\circ}$, while the aerostatic torsional divergence occur before flutter at initial attack angle of $-3^{\circ}$. The twin-box section is the best in terms of both aerostatic and flutter stability among those bridge decks. Then mechanisms of aerostatic torsional divergence are revealed by tracking the cable forces synchronous with deformation of the bridge decksin the instability process. It was also found that the onset wind velocities of these bridge decks are very similar at attack angle of $-3^{\circ}$. This indicatesthat a stable triangular structure made up of the cable planes, the tower, and the bridge deck greatly improves the aerostatic stability of the structure, while the aerodynamic effects associated with the aerodynamic configurations of the bridge decks have little effects on the aerostatic stability at initial attack angle of $-3^{\circ}$. In addition, instability patterns of the bridge depend on both the initial attack angles and aerodynamic configurations of the bridge decks. This study is helpful in determining bridge decksfor super long-span bridges in future.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.367-378
• /
• 2020

Two-dimensional Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (DDES) was carried out to investigate the uniform flow over a twin-box bridge deck (TBBD) with various gap ratios of L/C=5.1%, 12.8%, 25.6%, 38.5%, 73.3% and 108.2% (L: the gap-width between two girders, C: the chord length of a single girder) at Reynolds number, Re=4×104. The aerodynamic coefficients of the prototype deck with gap ratio of 73.3% obtained from the present simulation were compared with the previous experimental and numerical data for different attack angles to validate the present numerical method. Particular attention is devoted to the fluctuating pressure distribution and forces, shear layer reattachment position, wake velocity and flow pattern in order to understand the effects of gap ratio on dynamic flow interaction with the twin-box bridge deck. The flow structure is sensitive to the gap, thus a change in L/C thus leads to single-side shedding regime at L/C≤25.6%, and co-shedding regime at L/C≥35.8% distinguished by drastic changes in flow structure and vortex shedding. The gap-ratio-dependent Strouhal number gradually increases from 0.12 to 0.27, though the domain frequencies of vortices shedding from two girders are identical. The mean and fluctuating pressure distributions is significantly influenced by the flow pattern, and thus the fluctuating lift force on two girders increases or decreases with increasing of L/C in the single-side shedding and co-shedding regime, respectively. In addition, the flow mechanisms for the variation in aerodynamic performance with respect to gap ratios are discussed in detail.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.305-315
• /
• 2018

A numerical study based on a delayed detached eddy simulation (DDES) is conducted to investigate the aerodynamic mechanism behind the suppression of vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) of twin box girders by central grids, which have an inhibition effect on VIVs, as evidenced by the results of section model wind tunnel tests. The mean aerodynamic force coefficients with different attack angles are compared with experimental results to validate the numerical method. Next, the flow structures around the deck and the aerodynamic forces on the deck are analyzed to enhance the understanding of the occurrence of VIVs and the suppression of VIVs by the application of central grids. The results show that shear layers are separated from the upper railings and lower overhaul track of the upstream girder and induce large-scale vortices in the gap that cause periodical lift forces of large amplitude acting on the downstream girder, resulting in VIVs of the bridge deck. However, the VIVs are apparently suppressed by the central grids because the vortices in the central gap are reduced into smaller vortices and become weaker, causing slightly fluctuating lift forces on the deck. In addition, the mean lift force on the deck is mainly caused by the upstream girder, whereas the fluctuating lift force is mainly caused by the downstream girder.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.437-450
• /
• 2018

A bridge comprising of two girders, such as a twin steel box-girder bridge, is classified as fracture critical (i.e., non-redundant). In this study, the various bridge components of the twin steel box-girder bridge are investigated to determine if these could be utilized to improve bridge redundancy. Detailed finite-element (FE) models, capable of simulating prominent failure modes observed in a full-scale bridge fracture test, are utilized to evaluate the contributions of the bridge components on the ultimate behavior and redundancy of the bridge sustaining a fracture on one of its girders. The FE models incorporate material nonlinearities of the steel and concrete members, and are capable of capturing the effects of the stud connection failure and railing contact. Analysis results show that the increased tensile strength of the stud connection and (or) concrete strength are effective in improving bridge redundancy. By modulating these factors, redundancy could be significantly enhanced to the extent that the bridge may be excluded from its fracture critical designation.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.327-347
• /
• 2015

This paper investigates the effects of Reynolds number (Re) on the aerodynamic characteristics of a twin-deck bridge. A 1:36 scale sectional model of a twin girder bridge was tested using the Wall of Wind (WOW) open jet wind tunnel facility at Florida International University (FIU). Static tests were performed on the model, instrumented with pressure taps and load cells, at high wind speeds with Re ranging from $1.3{\times}10^6$ to $6.1{\times}10^6$ based on the section width. Results show that the section was almost insensitive to Re when pitched to negative angles of attack. However, mean and fluctuating pressure distributions changed noticeably for zero and positive wind angles of attack while testing at different Re regimes. The pressure results suggested that with the Re increase, a larger separation bubble formed on the bottom surface of the upstream girder accompanied with a narrower wake region. As a result, drag coefficient decreased mildly and negative lift coefficient increased. Flow modification due to the Re increase also helped in distributing forces more equally between the two girders. The bare deck section was found to be prone to vortex shedding with limited dependence on the Re. Based on the observations, vortex mitigation devices attached to the bottom surface were effective in inhibiting vortex shedding, particularly at lower Re regime.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.57-64
• /
• 2020

In this paper, based on the building's 3D modeling, a digital twin-based building control system using the collection information of wireless sensor box is proposed. The proposed system applies wireless sensors, making sensor modules more expandable and usable, and more intuitive building control possible through three-dimensional modeling. In addition, effective control and visual representation are possible through BIM data. Sensor boxes have been designed for general purpose so that a variety of sensor modules can be added and have been implemented for actual university buildings to demonstrate high availability. The results of this paper could be used to implement a digital twin control platform in the future.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.285-298
• /
• 2019

For super long-span bridges, the aerodynamic forces induced by the flow passing the box girder should be considered carefully. And the Reynolds number sensitively of aerodynamic characteristics is one of considerable issue. In the study, a numerical study on the Reynolds number sensitivity of aerodynamic characteristic (flow pattern, pressure distribution and aerodynamic forces) of a twin-box girder were carried out using large eddy simulation (LES) with the dynamic Smagorinsky-Lilly subgrid model. The results show that the aerodynamic characteristics have strong correlation with the Reynolds number. At the leading edge, the flow experiences attachment, departure, and reattachment stages accompanying by the laminar transition into turbulence, causing pressure plateaus to form on the surface, and the pressure plateaus gradually shrinks. Around the gap, attributing that the flow experiences stages of laminar cavity flow, the wake with alternate shedding vortices, and turbulent cavity flow in sequence with an increase in the Reynolds number, the pressures around the gap vary greatly with the Reynold number. At the trailing edge, the pressure gradually recovers as the flow transits to turbulence (the flow undergoes wake instability, shear layer transition-reattachment station), In addition, at relative high Reynolds numbers, the drag force almost does not change, however, the lift force coefficient gradually decreases with an increase in Reynolds number.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.223-243
• /
• 2010

This paper reports recent developments concerning the application of Generalised Beam Theory (GBT) to the structural analysis of steel-concrete composite bridges. The potential of GBT-based semi-analytical or finite element-based analyses in this field is illustrated/demonstrated by showing that both accurate and computationally efficient solutions may be achieved for a wide range of structural problems, namely those associated with the bridge (i) linear (first-order) static, (ii) vibration and (iii) lateral-torsional-distortional buckling behaviours. Several illustrative examples are presented, which concern bridges with two distinct cross-sections: (i) twin box girder and (ii) twin I-girder. Allowance is also made for the presence of discrete box diaphragms and both shear lag and shear connection flexibility effects.