Application of a new empirical model of nonlinear self-excited force to torsional vortex-induced vibration and nonlinear flutter of bluff bridge sections

Long-span bridges are susceptible to vortex-induced vibration (VIV) and flutter in different reduced wind range. Currently, VIV and flutter are considered as two different types of wind-induced vibration and different empirical models were proposed. The possibility of building a universal empirical model for both torsional VIV and nonlinear flutter was explored. In the previous study, a new empirical model was proposed for describing aerodynamic nonlinearities during soft flutter of a bluff bridge section with a medium side ratio. In this study, the empirical model was refined and extended to both torsional VIV and nonlinear flutter for a general bluff body, especially for a flat bridge deck, which is more common in long-span bridges. In the empirical model, aerodynamic nonlinear damping effect was modeled by a cubic velocity term and its applicability was validated by a series of elastically-mounted sectional model tests of a flat twin-side-girder bridge deck. The results indicated that the proposed empirical model was suitable for predicting the stable amplitude of torsional VIV and nonlinear flutter, although the motion-induced pure force varies with side ratios. It was found that torsional VIV and soft flutter share the same nonlinear damping mechanism during the development of LCO.