EAPSI:Investigating Dynamic Loads and Response of Bridges and Moving Vehicles Subjected to Extreme Wind Gusts

柔性结构，如大跨度悬索桥，可能容易受到大振幅振动和超过特定风速的灾难性破坏。该项目将研究用于分析风洞结构的实验方法，以避免像1940年塔科马海峡大桥倒塌这样的灾难，并改进车辆的设计，以避免因突然的侧风而倾覆，比如龙卷风或微爆炸。这项研究将在日本京都大学桥梁工程实验室与Hiromichi Shirato博士合作进行。日本继续推动桥梁工程的极限，神户的明石海京大桥或大阪的纳米屋大桥，可以经历几个极端的风事件，台风，龙卷风和微爆增强了这些研究的适用性。传统的频域方法无法计算阵风（时变）作用下结构的气动弹性载荷和响应。自激、运动诱导和抖振、湍流诱导载荷的时域方法最近分别使用有理函数近似和抖振指示函数得到了发展。这些方法也更适用于有限元分析和疲劳寿命估计。该项目将研究理性函数和抖振指示函数技术在桥梁主梁截面和受突然侧风影响的移动车辆中的应用。该项目的结果将为提高桥梁和车辆在龙卷风和微爆等阵风下的设计安全性提供见解。NSF EAPSI奖是与日本科学促进会合作资助的。

Flexible structures, such as long-span suspension bridges, can be susceptible to large amplitude vibrations and catastrophic failure above a specific wind speed. This project will investigate the experimental methods used to analyze structures in a wind tunnel in order to avoid disasters like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse in 1940 and improve the design of vehicles to avoid overturning due to sudden crosswinds, like those from tornadoes or microbursts. This research will be conducted at the Bridge Engineering Laboratory at Kyoto University in Japan in collaboration with Dr. Hiromichi Shirato. Japan continues to push the limits of bridge engineering, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Kobe or the Namihaya Bridge in Osaka, and can experience several extreme wind events, typhoons, tornadoes and microbursts enhancing the applicability of these studies. The aeroelastic loads and response of structures due to gusty (time dependent) winds is not possible using the traditional frequency domain methods. Time-domain methods for both self-excited, motion-induced, and buffeting, turbulence-induced, loads have been recently developed using rational function approximations and buffeting indicial functions, respectively. These methods are also more applicable for finite element analysis and fatigue life estimations. The project will investigate the applications of rational function and buffeting indicial function technology as it relates to a bridge girder section and a moving vehicle subjected to a sudden crosswind. The results from the project will provide insights to improve the safety of the design of bridges and vehicles for gusty winds like tornadoes and microbursts. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.