A comparative study on the transient wind-induced response of long-span bridges subject to downbursts and typhoons

Inherent nonstationarity of the wind speed records is frequently captured during downburst and typhoon events, however, the significance of nonstationary effects on the bridge aerodynamics has not been widely investigated yet. In this study, the nonstationary wind-induced effects on aerodynamics under downburst and typhoon events were discussed. More specifically, the wind field input was generated using the instantaneous information embedded in the Hilbert spectrum, which was extracted from full-scale measurements of downburst and typhoon wind. The two-dimensional (2D) indicial response function was employed in the time domain buffeting analysis of a long-span bridge, and the transient effects on the bridge aerodynamics under downburst and typhoon were discussed. The results from the present study highlighted the significant transient nature of the downburst wind and its transient effects on the indicial response function, aeroelastic loads and buffeting response, while negligible transient effects under typhoon events.

Automated summary

This study discusses the significant impact of the inherent nonstationarity of wind speed records on bridge aerodynamics during downburst and typhoon events. The wind field input was generated using the instantaneous information extracted from full-scale measurements of downburst and typhoon wind using the Hilbert spectrum. The transient effects on bridge aerodynamics were analyzed using the two-dimensional indicial response function in a time domain buffeting analysis, highlighting the significant transient nature of downburst wind and its effects, while negligible effects were observed under typhoon events.