• Wind and Structures
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.267-277
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• 2018

Numerical simulations are performed of a long flexible cylinder undergoing vortex-induced vibration at a Reynolds number of 500. The cylinder is pinned at both ends, having an aspect ratio of 100 (cylinder length to cylinder diameter) and a mass ratio of 4.2 (structural mass to displaced fluid mass). Temporal and spatial information on the cross-flow (CF) and in-line (IL) vibrations is extracted. High modal vibrations up to the $6^{th}$ in the CF direction and the $11^{th}$ in the IL direction are observed. Both the CF and IL vibrations feature a multi-mode mixed pattern. Mode competition is observed. The $2^{nd}$ mode with a low frequency dominates the IL vibration and its existence is attributed to a wave group propagating back and forth along the span. Distributions of fluid force coefficients are correlated to those of the CF and IL vibrations along the span. Histograms of the x'-y motion phase difference are evaluated from the total simulation time and a complete vibration cycle representing the standing or travelling wave pattern. Correlations between the phase difference and the vibrations are discussed. Vortex structures behind the cylinder show an interwoven near-wake pattern when the standing wave pattern dominates, but an oblique near-wake pattern when the travelling wave pattern prevails.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.21-41
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• 2013

Wind-induced vibrations of mast arms of cantilever traffic signal structures can lead to fatigue failure. Two such structures were instrumented each with a sonic anemometer and a camera that records the motions of the tip of the arm. It was observed throughout this experiment that large amplitude vertical vibrations of mast arms with signals with backplates occur for the most part at low wind speed ranges, between 2 to 7 m/s, and as the wind speed increases the amplitude of the vertical vibrations decreases. The results of these experiments contradict the generally accepted belief that vortex shedding does not cause significant vibrations of mast arms that could lead to fatigue failure, which have been attributed to galloping in the past. Two damping devices were tested with mixed results.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.309-319
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• 2021

The vortex-drift pattern over a girder surface, actually demonstrating the complex fluid-structure interactions between the structure and surrounding flow, is strongly correlated with the VIVs but has still not been elucidated and may be useful for modeling VIVs. The complex fluid-structure interactions between the structure and surrounding flow are considerably simplified in constructing a vortex model to describe the vortex-drift pattern characterized by the ratio of the vortex-drift velocity to the oncoming flow velocity, considering the aerodynamic work. A spring-suspended sectional model (SSSM) is used to measure the pressure in wind tunnel tests, and the aerodynamic parameters for a typical streamlined closed-box girder are obtained from the spatial distribution of the phase lags between the distributed aerodynamic forces at each pressure point and the vortex-excited forces (VEFs). The results show that the ratio of the vortex-drift velocity to the oncoming flow velocity is inversely proportional to the vibration amplitude in the lock-in region and therefore attributed to the "lock-in" phenomena of the VIVs. Installing spoilers on handrails can destroy the regular vortex-drift pattern along the girder surface and thus suppress vertical VIVs.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.225-240
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• 2013

The wind-induced vibrations of the mast arm of cantilever traffic signal structures can lead to the fatigue failure of these structures. Wind tunnel tests were conducted on an aeroelastic model of this type of structure. Results of these experiments indicated that when the signals have backplates, vortex shedding causes large-amplitude vibrations that could lead to fatigue failure. Vibrations caused by galloping were only observed for one particular angle of attack with the signals having backplates. No evidence for galloping, previously thought to be the dominant cause of fatigue failures in these structures, was observed.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.405-422
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• 2015

In previous model- and full-scale studies, high-amplitude vertical vibrations of mast-arm traffic signal structures have been shown to be due to vortex shedding, a phenomenon in which alternatingly shed, low-pressure vortices induce oscillating forces onto the mast-arm causing a cross-wind response. When the frequency of vortices being shed from the mast-arm corresponds to the natural frequency of the structure, a resonant condition is created causing long-lasting, high-amplitude vibrations which may lead to the fatigue failure of these structures. Turbulence in the approach flow is known to affect the cohesiveness of vortex shedding. Results from this full-scale investigation indicate that the surrounding terrain conditions, which affect the turbulence intensity of the wind, greatly influence the likelihood of occurrence of long-lasting, high-amplitude vibrations and also impact whether reduced service life due to fatigue is likely to be of concern.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2006

The response characteristics and suppression of flow-induced vibrations of rectangular prisms with various width-to-depth ratios were experimentally investigated. The prisms were rigid and elastically mounted at both ends to enable constrained torsional vibrations only. The present study focused on torsional vibrations, one of the three types of flow-induced vibrations generated in a rectangular prism. First, the response characteristics of torsional vibrations generated in rectangular prisms were investigated by free-vibration tests. It was found that the response characteristics of torsional vibrations generated in rectangular prisms could be classified into six patterns depending on the width-to-depth ratio. Next, the response characteristics of torsional vibrations observed in the free-vibration tests were reproduced by forced-vibration tests, and the mechanisms by which the three types of flow-induced vibrations, low-speed torsional flutter, vortex excitation and high-speed torsional flutter, are generated in the rectangular prisms were elucidated on the basis of characteristics of fluid forces and visualized flow patterns. Experiments were also carried out to establish an effective method for suppressing flow-induced vibrations generated in the rectangular prisms, and it was found that low-speed torsional flutter and high-speed torsional flutter could be suppressed by placing a small normal plate upstream of the prism, which results in suppression of the alternating rolling-up of the shear layers separating from the leading edges of the prism. It was also found that vortex excitation could be suppressed by placing a splitter plate downstream of the prism, which results in suppression of the generation of wake vortices.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.349-361
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• 2015

Higher-mode vertical vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) have been observed on several steel box-girder suspension bridges where different vertical modes are selectively excited in turn with wind velocity in accordance with the Strouhal law. Understanding the relationship of VIV amplitudes for different modes of vibration is very important for wind-resistant design of long-span box-girder suspension bridges. In this study, the basic rectangular cross-section with side ratio of B/D=6 is used to investigate the effect of different modes on VIV amplitudes by section model tests. The section model is flexibly mounted in wind tunnel with a variety of spring constants for simulating different modes of vibration and the non-dimensional vertical amplitudes are determined as a function of reduced velocity U/fD. Two 'lock-in' ranges are observed at the same onset reduced velocities of approximately 4.8 and 9.4 for all cases. The second 'lock-in' range, which is induced by the conventional vortex shedding, consistently gives larger responses than the first one and the Sc-normalized maximum non-dimensional responses are almost the same for different spring constants. The first 'lock-in' range where the vibration frequency is approximately two times the vortex shedding frequency is probably a result of super-harmonic resonance or the "frequency demultiplication". The main conclusion drawn from the section model study, central to the higher-mode VIV of suspension bridges, is that the VIV amplitude for different modes is the same provided that the Sc number for these modes is identical.

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

• Wind and Structures
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.465-474
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• 2020

Vortex-induced vibrations of a yawed flexible cylinder near a plane boundary are numerically investigated at a Reynolds number Re_n= 500 based on normal component of freestream velocity. Free to oscillate in the in-line and cross-flow directions, the cylinder with an aspect ratio of 25 is pinned-pinned at both ends at a fixed wall-cylinder gap ratio G/D = 0.8, where D is the cylinder diameter. The cylinder yaw angle (α) is varied from 0° to 60° with an increment of 15°. The main focus is given on the influence of α on structural vibrations, flow patterns, hydrodynamic forces, and IP (Independence Principle) validity. The vortex shedding pattern, contingent on α, is parallel at α=0°, negatively-yawed at α ≤ 15° and positively-yawed at α ≥ 30°. In the negatively- and positively-yawed vortex shedding patterns, the inclination direction of the spanwise vortex rows is in the opposite and same directions of α, respectively. Both in-line and cross-flow vibration amplitudes are symmetric to the midspan, regardless of α. The RMS lift coefficient C_L,rms exhibits asymmetry along the span when α ≠ 0°, maximum C_L,rms occurring on the lower and upper halves of the cylinder for negatively- and positively-yawed vortex shedding patterns, respectively. The IP is well followed in predicting the vibration amplitudes and drag forces for α ≤ 45° while invalid in predicting lift forces for α ≥ 30°. The vortex-shedding frequency and the vibration frequency are well predicted for α = 0° - 60° examined.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.85-100
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• 2001

The mechanism of wind-induced ovalling vibrations of cylindrical shells is numerically investigated by using a vortex method. The subject of this paper is limited to a two-dimensional structure in the subcritical regime. The aerodynamic stability of the ovalling vibrations in the second to fourth circumferential modes is discussed, based on the results of a forced-vibration test. In the analysis, two modal configurations are considered; one is symmetric and the other is anti-symmetric with respect to a diameter parallel to the flow direction. The unsteady pressures acting on a vibrating cylinder are simulated and the work done by them for one cycle of a harmonic motion is computed. The effects of a splitter plate on the flow around the cylinder as well as on the aerodynamic stability of the ovalling vibrations are also discussed. The consideration on the mechanism of ovalling vibrations is verified by the results of a free-vibration test.