Wind-induced nonlinear behaviors of twin-box girder bridges with various aerodynamic shapes

Wind-induced nonlinear oscillations of twin-box girder bridges are very sensitive to the aerodynamic shape of the deck (i.e., slot width ratio (SWR) and wind fairing shape) due to the complicated flow characteristics around the bridge deck. This paper presents a fully integrated finite element (FE) model in time domain, involving a nonlinear aerodynamic force model and a bridge FE model, to allow the investigation of nonlinear oscillation behaviors of long-span twin-box girder bridges with various SWRs and wind fairing shapes. The parameters in integrated FE model were firstly identified by using CFD simulation, and then, the proposed model was validated by conducting wind tunnel testing using sectional models and full-bridge aeroelastic models. It demonstrates that the developed integrated model has the capability of simulating the nonlinear flutter behaviors of twin-box girder bridges with various aerodynamic shapes. Furthermore, the prediction results show that the wind fairing shape has significant impact on the degree of freedom participation in coupled oscillation and failure modes, as well as flutter performance of the bridges. In addition, there is an increase in amplitudes of the limit cycle oscillations with the increase in the SWR of the twin-box girder bridges, and the relationships between the bending-torsional coupled oscillation, failure modes, and SWR of the bridges with anti-symmetric wind fairings are opposite to those with symmetric wind fairings.