Self-excited Vibrations of a Bridge Deck with Single and Double Wind Barriers

Abstract

Wind-tunnel experiments were carried out to study the influence of wind barriers on the flutter susceptibility of a bridge-deck section. This was performed on the model of a streamlined bridge-deck section equipped with various wind barriers. The wind barriers of various heights and constant porosity of 30% were placed at the (a) windward bridge-deck edge, (b) leeward bridge-deck edge, (c) both windward and leeward bridge-deck edges. The results indicate that the studied bridge deck remains dynamically stable with respect to the heave motion for all configurations of wind barriers. The configurations with wind barriers at both edges are more sensitive to torsional flutter when compared to configurations with single wind barriers placed either at the windward or at the leeward bridge-deck edge.