Modelling bridges aero-elasticity

Main Investigator : Dr J S Owen

Researcher(s) :Kai Fan Liaw
Research Group:Wind systems engineering group
Started :01/01/1999
Due for completion: 30/09/2004

Project Synopsis

Aerodynamic stability is the key design criterion for long span bridges in order to avoid disasters such as the collapse of the Tacoma Narrow Bridge in 1940. Long span bridges like that at Tacoma Narrows are susceptible to wind-induced oscillations. In the past design to mitigate this threat has relied on wind tunnelling modelling. In recent years there has been increased interest in adopting computational methods for modelling this fluid-structure interaction problem.

This project aims to develop a computational procedure to model the fluid-structure interaction of the Kessock Bridge due to wind excitation. To achieve this the following are to be carried out:
  • Wind tunnel testing of the bridge deck section will be carried out to validate the computational procedure developed.
  • Full-scale data of the response of Kessock Bridge collected by Owen at el (1996) will be compared to the computational results for further validation.

Successful computational modelling of bridge aero-elasticity will offer a wide range of preliminary design options and will reduces cost and time compared with experimental-based approaches.

Reference Materials relating to this project

none available

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated : Friday, August 8, 2003