Influence of uncertainty in selected aerodynamic and structural parameters on the buffeting response of long-span bridges

Multimode-analysis methods for the study and derivation of flutter instability and buffeting response are readily available from the literature and have been successfully applied to the assessment of the susceptibility of long-span bridges to wind loading. In both cases flutter critical velocity and buffeting oscillation are usually estimated from deterministic analyses. However, the probabilistic nature of the problem is latent since uncertainties, especially those associated with the definition of wind and aerodynamic characteristics, are intrinsically present. These quantities include, for example, wind-turbulence power spectral density, static coefficients and aerodynamic derivatives, usually derived from either site observations or experimental analysis. Their effects are often neglected or usually addressed through sensitivity analyses only.While in the past uncertainty in flutter estimates has been analyzed by researchers (for example through reliability analysis), little attention has been devoted to buffeting. In this paper the effects associated with the random nature of wind and structural characteristics are analyzed through the derivation of a closed-form solution associated with the single-mode buffeting problem with selected random parameters. A specific example is provided to clarify the role of wind power spectral density, damping and selected aeroelastic derivatives.