Numerical explorations of the limit cycle flutter characteristics of a bridge deck

The aeroelastic responses of a bridge deck was numerically simulated using a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) model, whose accuracy was verified by the flutter responses of a thin plate with theoretical solutions. With the increase of attack angle, the deck section becomes much blunter, which leads to be more prone to limit cycle flutter (LCF). The LCF phenomena for a bridge deck were simulated by the present numerical model. The satisfactory accuracies of the numerical simulations are verified by comparing with the experimental results. The numerically calculated results show that the steady-state responses of the vertical-torsional coupled LCF are independent of the initial excitation conditions. The structural damping has remarkable influence on the critical wind speed and the LCF amplitude. The phase angle difference between the torsional and vertical motions slightly increases with the increase of wind speed. The developed numerical simulation approach can help to serve as a building block for developing an overall analysis framework for investigating the LCF characteristics of long-span bridges.