Effect of windshields on the aerodynamic performance of a four-box bridge deck

Abstract

A new type of bridge deck section consisting of four-box decks, two side decks for vehicular traffic lanes and two middle decks for railway traffic, has been experimentally investigated for determining its aerodynamic properties. The eight flutter derivatives were determined by the Iterative Least Squares (ILS) method for this new type of four-box deck model, with two windshields of 30 mm and 50 mm height respectively. Wind tunnel experiments were performed for angles of attack α=±6°, ±4°, ±2° and 0° and Re numbers of 4.85x105 to 6.06x105 and it was found that the four-box deck with the 50 mm windshields had a better aerodynamic performance. Also, the results showed that the installation of the windshields reduced the values of the lift coefficient CL for the negative angles attack in the range of -6° to 0°, but the drag coefficient CD increased in the positive angle of attack range. However, galloping instability was not encountered for the tested reduced wind speeds, of up to 9.8. The aerodynamic force coefficients and the flutter derivatives for the four-box deck model were consistent with the results reported for the Messina triple-box bridge deck, but were different from those reported for the twin-box bridge decks.