• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.19 no.4 s.74
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• pp.325-335
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• 2006

In this paper, flexural test, girder-connection test and barrier-connection test for the pultruded composite bridge deck of hollow section, were carried out and its structural characteristics were evaluated. In the flexural test specimen, deflection was measured at center of the span and strains were measured at various locations to see the structural behavior up to the failure. In addition, finite element analysis was performed for the flexural test specimen and the results were compared with experiments, and load carrying capacity was evaluated. Also, field load test was conducted for the demonstration plate girder bridge and other field applications were described.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.125-146
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• 2006

Stonecutters Bridge of Hong Kong is a cable-stayed bridge with two single-column pylons each 298 m high and an aerodynamic twin deck. The total length of the bridge is 1596 m with a main span of 1018 m. The top 118 m of the tower will comprise structural steel and concrete composite while the bottom part will be of reinforced concrete. The bridge deck at the central span will be of steel whilst the side spans will be of concrete. Stonecutters Bridge has adopted a twin-girder deck design with a wide clear separation of 14.3 m between the two longitudinal girders. Although a number of studies have been conducted to investigate the aerodynamic performance of twin-girder deck, the actual real life application of this type of deck is extremely limited. This therefore triggered the need for conducting the present studies, the main objective of which is to investigate the performance of Stonecutters Bridge against flutter at its in-service stage as well as during construction. Based on the flutter derivatives obtained from the 1:80 scale rigid section model experiment, flutter analysis was carried out using 3-D finite element based single parameter searching method developed by the second author of this paper. A total of 6 finite element models of the bridge covering the in-service stage as well as 5 construction stages were established. The dynamic characteristics of the bridge associated with these stages were computed and applied in the analyses. Apart from the critical wind speeds for the onset of flutter, the dominant modes of vibration participating in the flutter vibration were also identified. The results indicate that the bridge will be stable against flutter at its in-service stage as well as during construction at wind speeds much higher than the verification wind speed of 95 m/s (1-minute mean).

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.1093-1098
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• 2007

In designing the high-speed railroad track, it is important to utilize appropriate track components to maintain uniform stiffness and ensure track alignment within the tolerance set for that system. In this regard, continuous welded rails (CWRs) were introduced to the Korean railways. Yet the installation of CWRs can result in an adverse impact due to the track/structure interaction on bridge sections yielding variations in the stiffness at the expansion joints. It may also impose additional axial force, generate excessive stress or deflection on track, and loosen the ballast at the ends as a bridge deck contracts or expands owing to a thermally-induced dynamic response. The risk is even greater in a long bridge deck, resulting in track longitudinal irregularities, deteriorating passenger's comfort, and increasing maintenance efforts. This study evaluates the performance of ZLR and their impact on track longitudinal irregularities through the track measuring results on a test section installed the ZLR in order to minimize the thermally-induced responses and the maintenance efforts for the high speed railway bridges.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.18 no.4 s.70
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• pp.417-426
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• 2005

Recent days composite bridge dock is gaining attraction due to many advantages such as light weight, high strength, corrosion resistance, and high durability. In this study, composite deck models of hat, box and triangular section type wore fabricated with VARTM Process. For these models, three point flexural tests wore carried out both in strong and weak axis. The experimental results were compared with each other to determine efficient section profile. It has been demonstrated that composite sandwich deck has strong potentials to be used as bridge deck in the new construction and rehabilitation works.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.161-184
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• 2016

Long-span suspension bridges have evolved through the years and with them, the bridge girder decks improved as well, changing their shapes from standard box-deck girders to twin box and multi-box decks sections. The aerodynamic characteristics of the new generation of twin and multiple-decks are investigated nowadays, to provide the best design wind speeds and the optimum dimensions such bridges could achieve. The multi-box Megane bridge deck is one of the new generation bridge decks, consisting of two side decks for traffic lanes and two middle decks for railways, linked between them with connecting beams. Three-dimensional CFD simulations were performed by employing the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) algorithm with a standard Smagorinsky subgrid-scale model, for $Re=9.3{\times}10^7$ and angles of attack ${\alpha}=-4^{\circ}$, $-2^{\circ}$, $0^{\circ}$, $2^{\circ}$ and $4^{\circ}$. Also, a wind tunnel experiment was performed for a scaled model, 1:80 of the Megane bridge deck section, for $Re=5.1{\times}10^5$ and the aerodynamic static coefficients were found to be in good agreement with the results obtained from the CFD-LES model. However the aerodynamic coefficients determined individually, from the CFD-LES model, for each of the traffic and railway decks of the Megane bridge, varied significantly, especially for the downstream traffic deck. Also the pressure distribution and the effect of the spacing between the connecting beams, on the wind speed profiles showed a slight increase in turbulence above the downstream traffic and railway decks.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.327-347
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• 2015

This paper investigates the effects of Reynolds number (Re) on the aerodynamic characteristics of a twin-deck bridge. A 1:36 scale sectional model of a twin girder bridge was tested using the Wall of Wind (WOW) open jet wind tunnel facility at Florida International University (FIU). Static tests were performed on the model, instrumented with pressure taps and load cells, at high wind speeds with Re ranging from $1.3{\times}10^6$ to $6.1{\times}10^6$ based on the section width. Results show that the section was almost insensitive to Re when pitched to negative angles of attack. However, mean and fluctuating pressure distributions changed noticeably for zero and positive wind angles of attack while testing at different Re regimes. The pressure results suggested that with the Re increase, a larger separation bubble formed on the bottom surface of the upstream girder accompanied with a narrower wake region. As a result, drag coefficient decreased mildly and negative lift coefficient increased. Flow modification due to the Re increase also helped in distributing forces more equally between the two girders. The bare deck section was found to be prone to vortex shedding with limited dependence on the Re. Based on the observations, vortex mitigation devices attached to the bottom surface were effective in inhibiting vortex shedding, particularly at lower Re regime.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.333-352
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• 2001

A two dimensional discrete vortex method (DIVEX) has been developed to predict unsteady and incompressible flow fields around closed bodies. The basis of the method is the discretisation of the vorticity field, rather than the velocity field, into a series of vortex particles that are free to move in the flow field that the particles collectively induce. This paper gives a brief description of the numerical implementation of DIVEX and presents the results of calculations on a recent suspension bridge deck section. The predictions for the static section demonstrate that the method captures the character of the flow field at different angles of incidence. In addition, flutter derivatives are obtained from simulations of the flow field around the section undergoing vertical and torsional oscillatory motion. The subsequent predictions of the critical flutter velocity compare well with those from both experiment and other computations. A brief study of the effect of flow control vanes on the aeroelastic stability of the bridge is also presented and the results from DIVEX are shown to be in accordance with previous analytical and experimental studies. In conclusion, the results indicate that DIVEX is a very useful design tool in the field of wind engineering.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.355-369
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• 2022

Section model test, as the most commonly used method to evaluate the aerostatic and aeroelastic performances of long-span bridges, may be carried out under different conditions of incoming wind speed, geometric scale and wind tunnel facilities, which may lead to potential Reynolds number (Re) effect, model scaling effect and wind tunnel scale effect, respectively. The Re effect and scale effect on aerostatic force coefficients and aeroelastic characteristics of streamlined bridge decks were investigated via 1:100 and 1:60 scale section model tests. The influence of auxiliary facilities was further investigated by comparative tests between a bare deck section and the deck section with auxiliary facilities. The force measurement results over a Re region from about 1×10⁵ to 4×10⁵ indicate that the drag coefficients of both deck sections show obvious Re effect, while the pitching moment coefficients have weak Re dependence. The lift coefficients of the smaller scale models have more significant Re effect. Comparative tests of different scale models under the same Re number indicate that the static force coefficients have obvious scale effect, which is even more prominent than the Re effect. Additionally, the scale effect induced by lower model length to wind tunnel height ratio may produce static force coefficients with smaller absolute values, which may be less conservative for structural design. The results with respect to flutter stability indicate that the aerodynamic-damping-related flutter derivatives 𝘈^*₂ and 𝐴^*₁𝐻^*₃ have opposite scale effect, which makes the overall scale effect on critical flutter wind speed greatly weakened. The most significant scale effect on critical flutter wind speed occurs at +3° wind angle of attack, which makes the small-scale section models give conservative predictions.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.5A
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• pp.887-899
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• 2006

The aim of this study is to investigate a correlation between fundamental data on aerodynamic characteristics of bridge girder cross-sections, such as aerodynamic force coefficients and flutter derivatives, and their aerodynamic behaviour. The section model tests were carried out in three stages. In the first stage, seven deck configurations were studied, namely; Six 2-edge girders and one box girder. In this stage, changes in aerodynamic force coefficients due to geometrical shape of girders, incidence angle of flow, wind directions and turbulence intensities were studied by static section model tests. In the second stage, the dynamic section model tests were carried out to investigate the relativity of static coefficients to dynamic responses. And finally, the two-dimensional (lift-torsion) aerodynamic derivatives of three bridge deck configurations were investigated by dynamic section model tests. The aerodynamic derivatives can be best described as a representation of the aerodynamic damping and the aerodynamic stiffness provided by the wind for a given deck geometry. The method employed here to extract these unsteady aerodynamic properties is known as the initial displacement technique. It involves the measurement of the decay in amplitude with time of an initial displacement of the deck in heave and torsion, for various wind speeds, in smooth flow. It is suggested that the proposed aerodynamic force coefficients and flutter derivatives of bridge girder sections will be potentially useful for the aeroelastic analysis and buffeting analysis.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.33-44
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• 2013

Although many studies have been performed for the structural details of orthotropic steel deck, most of them were focused on the trough rib of standard type, but not for orthotropic steel deck with longitudinal rib of open section used at beginning of the deck. In order to investigate the cause of fatigue crack for orthotropic steel deck bridge serviced 31 years with longitudinal rib of open section, in this study, the behavior characteristics of target structural details were analyzed based on measurement data under real traffic condition. Also the typical loading truck passing the target bridges was estimated with the structural analysis detailed, and the stresses and deformation patterns of target structural details were analyzed by performing the detailed structural analysis. Based upon the analysis, retrofitting methods of the fatigue crack were suggested and its validation was examined. From this study, it was clarified that fatigue crack of longitudinal rib with open section were affected with the stress increment by shear deformation in the rib and the occurrence of alternative stress due to moving vehicle. In addition, it was known that it is important to perform fatigue design reflected the local behavior of the structural details.