{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/52163"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/52163","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Aerodynamic stability of bridges","abstract":"The failure of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in November 1940 was a major course of the beginning of research on the Aerodynamic Stability of Suspension Bridges. Wind has wrecked suspension bridges for over a century but the underlying cause, an increasing harmonic amplitude due to wind, has been ignored until recently. For many years bridges have been designed to withstand horizontal wind pressure, but the lift force and the overturning moment due to wind have been overlooked. This investigation, in part, was conducted so that aerodynamic coefficients of certain bridge sections not heretofore investigated could be determined. With data from these tests engineers can determine beforehand whether the sections, if used, will be safe against uplifting, sliding, overturning, and of building up oscillations of catastrophic proportions. The second part of this thesis is devoted to the determination of the torsional oscillation effects in order to predict the dynamic wind characteristics of bridge sections. The dynamic tests are necessary to verify the analytical predictions obtained from the static tests and are valuable in obtaining the aerodynamic constants necessary for the complete solution of the bridge analysis.","abstract_html":"The failure of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in November 1940 was a major course of the beginning of research on the Aerodynamic Stability of Suspension Bridges. Wind has wrecked suspension bridges for over a century but the underlying cause, an increasing harmonic amplitude due to wind, has been ignored until recently. For many years bridges have been designed to withstand horizontal wind pressure, but the lift force and the overturning moment due to wind have been overlooked. This investigation, in part, was conducted so that aerodynamic coefficients of certain bridge sections not heretofore investigated could be determined. With data from these tests engineers can determine beforehand whether the sections, if used, will be safe against uplifting, sliding, overturning, and of building up oscillations of catastrophic proportions. The second part of this thesis is devoted to the determination of the torsional oscillation effects in order to predict the dynamic wind characteristics of bridge sections. The dynamic tests are necessary to verify the analytical predictions obtained from the static tests and are valuable in obtaining the aerodynamic constants necessary for the complete solution of the bridge analysis.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Witt, William Rufus"],"institution":"Virginia Polytechnic Institute","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Applied Mechanics","degree_department":"Applied Mechanics","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1950,"date_issued":"1950","date_published":"1950","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:11Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en_US"],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/52163","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Applied Mechanics"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Witt, William Rufus"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2015-05-08T19:39:48Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-05-08T19:39:48Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1950"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.dcmitype","label":"Dc Type Dcmitype","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Applied Mechanics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_US"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/52163"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The failure of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in November 1940 was a major course of the beginning of research on the Aerodynamic Stability of Suspension Bridges. Wind has wrecked suspension bridges for over a century but the underlying cause, an increasing harmonic amplitude due to wind, has been ignored until recently. For many years bridges have been designed to withstand horizontal wind pressure, but the lift force and the overturning moment due to wind have been overlooked. This investigation, in part, was conducted so that aerodynamic coefficients of certain bridge sections not heretofore investigated could be determined. With data from these tests engineers can determine beforehand whether the sections, if used, will be safe against uplifting, sliding, overturning, and of building up oscillations of catastrophic proportions. The second part of this thesis is devoted to the determination of the torsional oscillation effects in order to predict the dynamic wind characteristics of bridge sections. The dynamic tests are necessary to verify the analytical predictions obtained from the static tests and are valuable in obtaining the aerodynamic constants necessary for the complete solution of the bridge analysis."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Aerodynamic stability of bridges"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.department":["Applied Mechanics"],"dc:creator":["Witt, William Rufus"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2015-05-08T19:39:48Z"],"dc:date.available":["2015-05-08T19:39:48Z"],"dc:date.issued":["1950"],"dc:description.abstract":["The failure of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in November 1940 was a major course of the beginning of research on the Aerodynamic Stability of Suspension Bridges. Wind has wrecked suspension bridges for over a century but the underlying cause, an increasing harmonic amplitude due to wind, has been ignored until recently. For many years bridges have been designed to withstand horizontal wind pressure, but the lift force and the overturning moment due to wind have been overlooked. This investigation, in part, was conducted so that aerodynamic coefficients of certain bridge sections not heretofore investigated could be determined. With data from these tests engineers can determine beforehand whether the sections, if used, will be safe against uplifting, sliding, overturning, and of building up oscillations of catastrophic proportions. The second part of this thesis is devoted to the determination of the torsional oscillation effects in order to predict the dynamic wind characteristics of bridge sections. The dynamic tests are necessary to verify the analytical predictions obtained from the static tests and are valuable in obtaining the aerodynamic constants necessary for the complete solution of the bridge analysis."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/52163"],"dc:language.iso":["en_US"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:title":["Aerodynamic stability of bridges"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.dcmitype":["Text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Applied Mechanics"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:11Z"}