Influence of weather conditions and eccentric aerodynamic loading on the large amplitude aeroelastic vibration of highway tubular poles

Abstract

This paper is motivated by a recent involvement of the author in a forensic investigation on the response of cantilever tubular highway poles during a particular winter storm and, in general, unforeseen and extreme wind events. These can be classified as situations in which the reference wind velocity is clearly below the design value but the characterization of the aerodynamic forces challenged by either the presence of an adverse weather condition (deposit of freezing precipitation) or the eccentric loading transferred to the main system through non-structural elements (e.g., luminaire installed at the top of the unit). In particular, a set of wind-induced failures of aluminum-alloy highway light poles in a central region of the United States during a particular event was the original motivation for this study. The dynamic performance of these systems was analyzed and extended beyond the original scope of the previous investigations to account for the unexpected nature of the loading. Statistical simulations were employed for the interpretation of the results in terms of failure risk.