Aeroelastic behaviour of long span bridges with “multibox” type deck sections

Abstract

The truss and box classical bridge deck sections, together with several proposed modifications, seem to be not applicable to “very” long span bridges, like the Messina Strait Bridge, for which multibox type section has been proposed.Even if this concept has been validated analytically and experimentally, yet not much has been done for understanding the basic principles of its aerodynamic and aeroelastic behaviour and the effects of some design parameters on its critical wind speeds.The main goal of this paper is to give a further contribution to these aspects, using well-known methods and computer programs widely used in the aeronautical research and design field. The preliminary results of these studies relative to steady aerodynamics and classical flutter behaviour are encouraging. It has been possible to evidence some interesting parameters that influence considerably the flutter speed for which it could be useful to define the sensitivity of the critical wind speed to this parameter variations.