Computation of wind–structure interaction on tension structures

Abstract

Tension structures are apt to experience severe vibration under fluctuating wind action, due to their lightweight and flexibility. Sometimes, this kind of vibration can even affect the surrounding flow. So, it is necessary to consider the wind–structure interaction effects in the wind-induced response analysis of tension structures. A computational method for simulating the wind–structure interaction effects of tension structures is presented. A partitioned solution approach is adopted in the numerical simulation program, which includes three relatively independent modules: the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) module, the computational structure dynamics (CSD) module and the computational mesh dynamics (CMD) module. In the CFD module, the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) formulation is adopted to account for the moving boundary; the Taylor–Galerkin method is employed for solving the unsteady Navier–Stokes equations; and the large eddy simulation (LES) method is used for simulating turbulence. In the CSD module, the update Lagrangian formulation for solving the motion of non-linear structure response is deduced, and an implicit time-stepping procedure is adopted. In the CMD module, an elasticity-based meshing algorithm is employed to solve the remeshing problem. A time-dependent simulation process is controlled by an iteration procedure between these three modules until convergence is reached within each time step. Finally, the coupled algorithm is applied to one-way-type tension structures, and the mechanism of wind–structure interaction is discussed.