Wind-Induced Phenomena in Long-Span Cable-Supported Bridges: A Comparative Review of Wind Tunnel Tests and Computational Fluid Dynamics Modelling

Abstract

Engineers, architects, planners and designers must carefully consider the effects of wind in their work. Due to their slender and flexible nature, long-span bridges can often experience vibrations due to the wind, and so the careful analysis of wind effects is paramount. Traditionally, wind tunnel tests have been the preferred method of conducting bridge wind analysis. In recent times, owing to improved computational power, computational fluid dynamics simulations are coming to the fore as viable means of analysing wind effects on bridges. The focus of this paper is on long-span cable-supported bridges. Wind issues in long-span cable-supported bridges can include flutter, vortex-induced vibrations and rain–wind-induced vibrations. This paper presents a state-of-the-art review of research on the use of wind tunnel tests and computational fluid dynamics modelling of these wind issues on long-span bridges.

Wind Forces on Medium-Span Bridges: A Comparison of Eurocode 1 Part 4 and Computational Fluid Dynamics

“…CFD uses the computational power of computers to solve the partial differential equations that govern the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy of fluids, which are also known as the Navier-Stokes equations. A RANS simulation (steady state) with an appropriate turbulence model can provide sufficiently accurate results in the study of time-averaged wind effects if cases do not have large flow separations or vortex shedding, such as these ones [13]. This study used the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations to solve for the velocity and pressure at all points within the fluid:…”

Capability analysis of computational fluid dynamics models in wind shield study on Queensferry Crossing, Scotland

“…Wind tunnel tests have traditionally been a vital element of the design and operation of long-span bridges as they provide relatively reliable and referenceable information regarding the wind effects on the bridge behaviour model (Cochran and Derickson, 2011). Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling has been successfully applied in many areas of fluid mechanics, including the aerospace industry, and in Formula 1 (Kieffer et al, 2006), with its application to the built and natural environment and in the discipline of Civil Engineering is ever increasing due to its practical applications and access to increased computational power (Bernardo et al, 2019;McGuill, C. and Keenahan, 2020;Zhang et al, 2021). More recently CFD has been used in the assessment of wind effects on bridges (Morgenthal, 2000;Li et al, 2010;Kavrakov, 2018;Bi, 2014).…”

Full-scale aerodynamic study on the effects of tower wind shields and road-sign gantries on passing high-sided vehicles in the tower region at the Queensferry Crossing

“…Thus, the passage of vehicles by bridge towers, which cause sudden changes in aerodynamic forces, attracts a large amount of interest from engineers and researchers. Devices such as wind shields tend to be located at both the edges of the bridge and next to the bridge tower to mitigate the impact from crosswinds on vehicles (Argentini et al, 2011; Zhang et al, 2021a; Zhu et al, 2023). Variable flows formed by the wind shields, along with the shielding effects of the bridge tower itself, make the wind field near the tower region complicated and unpredictable (Zhou, Q. and Zhu, L.D., 2020) and worthy of detailed investigation.…”