Influence of aerodynamic configuration of a streamline box girder on bridge flutter and vortex-induced vibration

Abstract

Streamline box girders are widely applied in the design and construction of long-span bridges all over the world. In order to study the influence of modifications of aerodynamic configuration and accessory components on flutter and vortex-induced vibration (VIV), more than 60 cases were tested through a 1 50 scale section model. The test results indicates that the aerodynamic configuration and accessory components of streamline box girders can significantly affect the wind-induced vibration of bridge, which is in good agreement with the experience of past researchers. From the tests carried out, it is observed that if the horizontal angle of the inclined web of the streamline box girder is below 16°, the critical flutter wind speed of bridge will increase remarkably, and the VIV will diminish. The test results also show that the 15° inclined web can restrain the formation of vortex near the tail, and consequently improve the performance of aerodynamic stability of long-span bridges. Finally, a new streamline box girder with 15° inclined web was presented and strongly recommended in the aerodynamic configuration design of long-span bridges.

Sensitivity Analysis of Geometrical Parameters on the Aerodynamic Performance of Closed-Box Girder Bridges

“…In addition, all of the values of U cr of closed-box girders with α = 50° are much higher than those with α = 60°, which confirms that closed-box girders with a relatively sharper wind fairing angle have better flutter performances. It is noted that the flutter performance was not obviously improved when the β value was below 16° for the large angle of α = 60°, which is different from the results of the study of Wang et al (2011) [ 17 ].…”

“…The flap and fairing are often used to improve the aerodynamic stability of the bridge section [ 13 ]. Wang reached the conclusion that the flutter critical wind speed increases significantly and the VIV phenomenon disappears when the inclined angle of the lower inclined web turns below 16° for the 4th Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge [ 17 , 18 ]. Larsen and Wall [ 1 ] utilized three different bottom plate inclinations and also recommended an angle of around 15° to suppress vortex shedding vibrations.…”

Separation Control on a Bridge Box Girder Using a Bypass Passive Jet Flow

“…The alternative approach was the passive aerodynamic method, which employed accessory components on the bridges, such as guide vanes [5] and wing plates [12,13] to improve aerodynamic performance. It was found that the guide vanes were effective in suppressing vortex-induced vertical oscillations of the suspension bridge of the Great Belt Bridge, as reported in Larsen et al [5].…”

Numerical study of a twin box bridge deck with increasing gap ratio by using RANS and LES approaches

“…Finally, considering that the aerodynamic behaviour of bridge decks is often remarkably affected by the presence of permeable fences [15][16][17] and that they are always present in working conditions, their influence on the flow organization is studied for the largest gap ratio. The paper is organized as follows: in Section 2, the setup used to extract experimental data is briefly reported.…”