Thermal fluid-structure interaction and coupled thermal-stress analysis in a cable stayed bridge exposed to fire

Abstract

In this paper, thermal fluid structure-interaction (TFSI) and coupled thermal-stress analysis are utilized to identify the effects of transient and steady-state heat-transfer on the vortex induced vibration and fatigue of a segmental bridge deck due to fire incidents. Numerical simulations of TFSI models of the deck are dedicated to calculate the lift and drag forces in addition to determining the lock-in regions once using fluid-structure interaction (FSI) models and another using TFSI models. Vorticity and thermal convection fields of three fire scenarios are simulated and analyzed. Simiu and Scanlan benchmark is used to validate the TFSI models, where a good agreement was manifested between the two results. Extended finite element method (XFEM) is adopted to create 3D models of the cable stayed bridge to simulate the fatigue of the deck considering three fire scenarios. Choi and Shin benchmark is used to validate the damaged models of the deck in which a good coincide was seen between them. The results revealed that TFSI models and coupled thermal-stress models are significant in detecting earlier vortex induced vibration and lock-in regions in addition to predicting damages and fatigue of the deck due to fire incidents.