Numerical simulation for aerodynamic derivatives of bridge deck

Abstract

An improved domain decomposition method is proposed to compute aerodynamic derivatives of bridge deck based on commercial Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) code FLUENT. In this method, the computational region is discretized into rigid boundary layer mesh region, dynamic mesh region and static mesh region. A simplified formula used to control the body-fitted grid height is deduced from the standard wall function. Aerodynamic derivatives of a flat plate and two long span bridge decks are computed and compared with the theoretical values and the wind tunnel tests results. Numerical results show that several aerodynamic derivatives are influenced by the accessory structures of the bridge deck such as guardrails and inspecting vehicle rails, etc.