IABSE Task Group 3.1 Benchmark Results. Numerical Full Bridge Stability and Buffeting Simulations

Aerodynamic stability and buffeting response due to turbulent wind have a fundamental importance for long-span bridge design. However, there are no benchmark cases that can be used as a reference estimate for an independent validation of the numerical methods and theoretical approximations. Therefore, the IABSE Task Group 3.1 proposal is to fill this gap by defining a reasonably well predicted set case for the response to wind of long-span bridges, both in terms of aerodynamic stability and buffeting. Specifically, a statistical analysis was performed on the numerical results collected by the task group participants, who used their own methodology and tools (either in time domain and/or frequency domain) to predict the bridge stability to flutter and buffeting response to wind, sharing the same input data (wind conditions, bridge structural properties, and deck aerodynamic coefficients). The benchmark results presented in this paper can be used as a point of reference for other numerical codes, and they include the onset of flutter speed, damping ratio variation with mean wind speed and the root mean square of the displacements as a function of mean wind speed, power spectral density values, and time histories of displacements.