Influence of wind yaw angle and pylon interference on the buffeting responses of cable-stayed bridges during construction

Abstract

The present study focuses on the effects of wind yaw angle and pylon interference on the buffeting responses of bridge decks during construction. Two typical cable-stayed bridges with rhombus pylons (RPs) and single-column pylons (SPs) in the maximum double cantilever state were selected as research objectives. The influence of the wind yaw angle and pylon interference on the lateral, vertical and torsional buffeting displacements were systematically analyzed through full bridge model aeroelastic wind tunnel tests. The research results show that the maximum buffeting responses appear when the wind yaw angle is in the range of to The effects of the wind yaw angle on the buffeting responses become more obvious in cases of high mean wind speeds. The pylon interference effects on the lateral buffeting displacements are more significant than those on the vertical and torsional buffeting displacements. The strong pylon interference effects may lead to non-conservative buffeting response estimation results using traditional buffeting analysis methods. This study demonstrates that it is of paramount importance to take into consideration the combined effects of the wind yaw angle and pylon interference in the design of long-span cable-stayed bridges during their construction stages.