• Wind and Structures
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.203-225
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• 2013

An analysis framework for vehicle-bridge dynamic interaction system under turbulent wind is proposed based on the relevant theory of wind engineering and dynamics. Considering the fluctuating properties of wind field, the stochastic wind velocity time history is simulated by the Auto-Regressive method in terms of power spectral density function of wind field. The bridge is represented by three-dimensional finite element model and the vehicle by a multi-rigid-body system connected by springs and dashpots. The detailed calculation formulas of unsteady aerodynamic forces on bridge and vehicle are derived. In addition, the form selection of wind barriers, which are applied as the windbreak measures of newly-built railways in northwest China, is studied based on the suggested evaluation index, and the suitable values about height and porosity rate of wind barriers are studied. By taking a multi-span simply-supported box-girder bridge as a case study, the dynamic response of the bridge and the running safety indices of the train traveling on the bridge with and without wind barriers are calculated. The limit values of train speed with respect to different wind velocities are proposed according to the allowance values in the design code.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.76 no.2
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• pp.207-222
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• 2020

Due to the rugged terrain, metro lines in mountain city across numerous wide rivers and deep valleys, resulting in instability of high-pier bridge and insecurity of metro train subjected to fluctuating crosswind. To ensure the safe operation in metro lines in mountain cities, running safety of the metro train over the high-pier bridge under crosswind is analyzed in this paper. Firstly, the dynamic model of the wind-train-bridge (WTB) system is built, in which the speed-up effect of crosswind is fully considered. On the basis of time domain analysis, the basic characteristics of the WTB system with high-pier are analyzed. Afterwards, the dynamic responses varies with train speed and wind speed are calculated, and the safety zone of metro train over a high-pier bridge subjected to fluctuating crosswind in mountain city is determined. The results indicate that, fluctuating crosswind triggers drastic vibration to the metro train and high-pier bridges, which in turn causes running instability of the train. For this reason, the corresponding safety zone for metro train running on the high-pier is proposed, and the metro traffic on the high-pier bridge should be closed as the mean wind speed of standard height reaches 9 m/s (15.6 m/s for the train).

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.309-320
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• 2010

With taking the geometric nonlinearity of bridge structure into account, a framework is presented for predicting the dynamic responses of a long-span suspension bridge subjected to running train and turbulent wind. The nonlinear dynamic equations of the coupled train-bridge-wind system are established, and solved with the Newmark numerical integration and direct interactive method. The corresponding linear and nonlinear processes for solving the system equation are described, and the corresponding computer codes are written. The proposed framework is then applied to a schemed long-span suspension bridge with the main span of 1120 m. The whole histories of the train passing through the bridge under turbulent wind are simulated, and the dynamic responses of the bridge are obtained. The results demonstrate that the geometric nonlinearity does not influence the variation tendency of the bridge displacement histories, but the maximum responses will be changed obviously; the lateral displacement of bridge are more sensitive to the wind than the vertical ones; compared with wind velocity, train speed affects the vertical maximum responses a little more clearly.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.411-425
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• 2024

To investigate the optimal aerodynamic parameters of wind barriers for the T-beam of high-speed railway (HSR) bridge and the wind field of the wind barrier-train-bridge system, the three-component forces of the system and the wind pressure on the vehicle surface were tested and analyzed through the sectional model wind test. The effects of wind velocity, with/without wind barrier, the height of wind barrier, and the air permeability of the wind barrier on the aerodynamic characteristics of the train-bridge system are discussed. Additionally, a CFD numerical model is constructed to evaluate the wind environment of the bridge surface with/without the wind barrier, and the impact of wind barrier on the running safety of vehicles are analyzed. Comprehensively considering the running safety of the train and the wind-resistant stability of the bridge, it is more appropriate to set the wind barrier height H as 3.5 m and the porosity 𝛽 as 30% respectively.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.311-329
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• 2015

A method for analyzing the coupled wind-vehicle-bridge system is proposed that also considers the shielding effect of the bridge tower with triangular wind barriers. The static wind load and the buffeting wind load for both the bridge and the vehicle are included. The shielding effects of the bridge tower and the triangular wind barriers are incorporated by taking the surface integral of the wind load. The inter-history iteration is adopted to solve the vehicle-bridge dynamic equations with time-varying external loads. The results show that after installing the triangular wind barriers in the area of the bridge tower, the bridge response and the vehicle safety factors change slightly. The peak value of the train car body acceleration is significantly reduced when the wind barrier size is increased.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.399-416
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• 2018

In order to reveal the independent relationship between track irregularity and wind loads, the stochastic characteristics of train-bridge coupling systems subjected to wind loads were investigated by the multi-sample calculation. The vehicle was selected as 23 degrees of freedom dynamical model, and the bridge was described by three-dimensional finite element model. It was assumed that the wind loads were random processes with strong spatial correlation, while the track irregularities were stationary random ones. As a case study, a high-speed train running on a cable-stayed bridge subjected to wind loads was studied. The effect of rail irregularities was deemed to be independent of the effect of wind excitations on the coupling system in the same wind circumstance for the same project, leading to the conclusion that the effect of wind loads and moving vehicle could be calculated separately. The variance results of the stochastic responses of vehicle-bridge coupling system under the action of wind loads and rail irregularities together were equivalent to the sum of the variance of the responses induced by each excitation. Therefore, when one of the input excitations is different, only the effect of changed loads needs to be assessed. Moreover, the new calculated results were combined with the effect of unchanged loads to present the stochastic response of coupling system subjected to the different excitations, reducing the cost of computations. The stochastic characteristics, the CFD (cumulative distribution function) of the coupling system with different wind velocities, vehicle speed, and vehicle marshalling were studied likewise.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.171-189
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• 2016

An adjustable, louver-type wind barrier was introduced in this study for improving the running safety and ride comfort of train on the bridge under the undesirable wind environment. The aerodynamic characteristics of both train and bridge due to this novel wind barrier was systematically investigated based on the wind tunnel tests. It is suggested that rotation angles of the adjustable blade of the louver-type wind barrier should be controlled within $90^{\circ}$ to achieve an effective solution in terms of the overall aerodynamic performance of the train. Compared to the traditional grid-type wind barrier, the louver-type wind barrier generally presents better aerodynamic performance. Specifically, the larger decrease of the lift force and overturn moment of the train and the smaller increase of the drag force and torsional moment of the bridge resulting from the louver-type wind barrier were highlighted. Finally, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique was applied to explore the underlying mechanism of aerodynamic control using the proposed wind barrier.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.43-57
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• 2020

Considering the wind barriers induced aerodynamic characteristic variations of both bridge deck and trains, this paper studies the effects of wind barriers on the safety and stability of trains as they run through an urban rail transit cable-stayed bridge which tends to be more vulnerable to wind due to its relatively low stiffness and lightweight. For the bridge equipped with wind barriers of different characteristics, the aerodynamic coefficients of trains and bridge decks are obtained from wind tunnel test firstly. And then, the space vibration equations of the wind-train-bridge system are established using the experimentally obtained aerodynamic coefficients. Through solving the dynamic equations, one can calculate the dynamic responses both the trains and bridge. The results indicate that setting wind barriers can effectively reduce the dynamic responses of both the trains and bridge, even though more wind forces acting on the bridge are caused by wind barriers. In addition, for urban rail transit cable-stayed bridges located in strong wind environment, the wind barriers are recommended to be set with 20% porosity and 2.5 m height according to the calculation results of cases with wind barriers porosity and height varying in two wide ranges, i.e., 10% - 40% and 2.0 m to 4.0 m, respectively.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.361-373
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• 2023

Suspended monorail trains (SMTs) are sensitive to crosswinds, and instantaneous aerodynamic characteristics of two SMTs passing each other under crosswinds are particularly complicated. In this study, a pressure measurement test is carried out on stationary train-bridge models arranged in several critical positions. In addition, a validated moving CFD model is developed with the dynamic and sliding mesh method to explore the realistic train movement effects. The time-varying aerodynamic forces and surface pressure distribution on, as well as the flow field around running trains and bridges during trains passing each other, are computed in detail to illustrate the shielding effect of the upstream train. The results reveal that when two trains begin to pass each other, the side force coefficient of the downstream train reduces significantly to negative values due to the wind shielding effect of the upstream train. The moving model successfully captures that airflow is separated on the middle line of the head car for the suspended monorail train, and the surrounding bluff double-beams can significantly affect the flow structures around the train. The wind shielding effect of the upstream train on the downstream train will weaken as the relative yaw angle decreases.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.213-236
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• 2015

For high-speed railways (HSR) in wind prone regions, wind barriers are often installed on bridges to ensure the running safety of trains. This paper analyzes the effect of wind barriers on the running safety of a high-speed train to cross winds when it passes on a bridge. Two simply-supported (S-S) PC bridges in China, one with 32 m box beams and the other with 16 m trough beams, are selected to perform the dynamic analyses. The bridges are modeled by 3-D finite elements and each vehicle in a train by a multi-rigid-body system connected with suspension springs and dashpots. The wind excitations on the train vehicles and the bridges are numerically simulated, using the static tri-component coefficients obtained from a wind tunnel test, taking into account the effects of wind barriers, train speed and the spatial correlation with wind forces on the deck. The whole histories of a train passing over the two bridges under strong cross winds are simulated and compared, considering variations of wind velocities, train speeds and without or with wind barriers. The threshold curves of wind velocity for train running safety on the two bridges are compared, from which the windbreak effect of the wind barrier are evaluated, based on which a beam structure with better performance is recommended.