• Wind and Structures
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.45-62
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• 2001

This paper is focused on the torsional effects that are induced on bridge piers by unbalanced wind buffeting on the deck during double cantilever erection stages. The case of decks with variable cross section is considered in particular as this characteristic is typical of most frame bridges that are built by the cantilever method. The procedure outlined in the paper is basically an application of the method that Dyrbye and Hansen (1996) have illustrated for decks with constant cross section. This format was chosen because it is suitable for design purposes and may easily be implemented in structural codes. As a complement, the correspondence with the format that is adopted in the Canadian code (NBCC 1990) for the gust factor is established, which might be useful to bridge designers used to the North-American approach to the gust effects on structures. Only alongwind turbulence and horizontal movements of the deck are considered. The combination of torsional and bending effects is also discussed and it is illustrated with an example of application.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2003

Nowadays balanced cantilever construction plays an essential role as a sophisticated erection technique of bridges due to its economical and ecological advantages. Experience teaches that wind has a great importance with regard to this construction technique, but methods proposed by codes to take wind effects into account are still rather crude and, in most cases, completely lacking. Also research in this field is quite limited and aimed at studying only the longitudinal shear and the torque at the pier base, caused by the mean wind velocity and by the longitudinal turbulence actions over the deck. This paper advances the present solutions by developing a new procedure that takes into account all wind effects both on the deck and on the pier. The proposed model assumes the mean wind velocity as orthogonal to the bridge plane and considers the effects produced by all the three turbulence components and by the vortex shedding. The applications point out the role of each loading component on different bridge configurations and show that disregarding the presence of some effects may imply oversimplified results and relevant underestimations.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.33-45
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• 2006

Cable-stayed bridges are more inherently vulnerable to wind during the erection stages than when they are already being used. Even if a bridge that is already being used is aerodynamically stable, it is prone to having aerodynamic instabilities within the design wind speed during construction. Therefore, when the bridge's designers deliberate on the method they will use in constructing the bridge, they must likewise come up with a suitable plan to ensure the stability of the bridge during its erection (e.g., conducting a wind-tunnel investigation). This paper describes the aeroelastic full-bridge model tests that were conducted to investigate the aerodynamic behavior of the bridge during erection, with emphasis on aerodynamic stability and the mitigation of the buffeting response through temporary stabilization. The aerodynamic performance of a cable -stayed bridge with a main span of 50 m was studied in its completed stage and in two erection stages, corresponding 50% and 90% completion, respectively. In the 50% erection stage tests, a balanced cantilever configuration, with wind cable and temporary support at the tower, was conducted. The system that was determined to be most effective in reducing wind action on the bridge during construction was proposed in the paper, based on the results of the comparative study that was conducted.