On the aeroelastic transient behaviour of a streamlined bridge deck section in a wind tunnel

Abstract : The study deals with the transient behaviour of a two degrees of freedom bridge deck section in a wind tunnel under the effect of an initial excitation. Response of the bridge deck section subjected to an initial mechanical excitation and excitation by an upstream gust is investigated separately. Experiments are conducted with three different frequency ratios between the plunge and pitch degrees of freedom. This experimental study shows that transient growth of energy occurs for wind velocities below the onset of flutter, reaching a level higher than 5 times the level of the initial excitation. In high wind conditions, this means that statistical or spectral computation techniques might underestimate the motion amplitude reached by a flexible bridge deck. This emphasises the importance of using temporal techniques under such circumstances. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.