Wind-induced dynamic response of bridges

Wind loading has long played a significant role in bridge design. Some spectacular failures, such as the Tay Bridge (Scotland, 1879), or the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Washington State, 1940) acted as a painful reminder to engineers in case they had forgotten the importance of wind loading. Today, a constant drive for longer spans in suspension or cable-stayed bridges forces designers to give even more care to wind load. The Golden Gate Bridge (1280 m, San Francisco, built in 1937), which held the record for the longest span for 27 years, is now a distant 7th to the Akashi-Kaikyo (1991 m, Japan, 1998). Different in many ways, the current hunger of Japan and China for new infrastructure leads a renewal of innovation in bridge design and wind engineering. A few projects in Europe or the United States, like the Great Belt Bridge (1624 m, Denmark, 1998), or the Messina Bridge project (3300 m, Italy, not built) are part of the same trend. The design of such a structure is a real challenge for the designer. A good example is given by the Messina Bridge in Veneziano and Van Dyck, 1998. Wind loading in different directions, determination of the reference wind speed, earthquake load, numerous cases of traffic loading ... are investigated thoroughly. The intent of this thesis is to present the essentially dynamic behavior of bridges submitted to wind. The main phenomenon involved will be exposed, as well a method to evaluate the maximum response for given wind conditions. Theories and methods developed by A.G. Davenport and R.H. Scanlan support most of the developments in this text.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Rousseau, Guillaume, 1982-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jerome J. Connor.

• Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/29416

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/29416