Vortex-induced oscillations of bridges: theoretical linkages between sectional model tests and full bridge responses

Zhitian Zhang,Yaojun Ge,Zhengqing Chen 한국풍공학회 2014 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.19 No.3

Vortex-induced oscillation is a type of aeroelastic phenomenon, to which extended structures such as long-span bridges are most susceptible. The vortex-induced vibration (VIV) behaviors of a concerned bridge were investigated conventionally in virtue of wind tunnel tests on string-mounted sectional models. This necessitates the building of a linkage between the response of the sectional model and that of the prototype structure. Although many released literatures have related to this issue and provided suggestions, there is a lack of consistency among them. In this study, some theoretical models describing the vortex-induced structural motion, including the linear empirical model, the nonlinear empirical model and the modified (or generalized) nonlinear empirical model, are firstly reviewed. Then, the concept of equivalent mass density is introduced based on the principle that an equal input of energy should result in identical structural amplitudes. Based on these, the theoretical linkages between the amplitude of a section model and that corresponding to the prototype bridge are discussed with different analytical models. Theoretical derivation indicates that such connections are dependent mainly on two factors, one is the presupposed shape of deformation, and the other is the theoretical VIV model employed. The theoretical analysis in this study shows that, in comparison to the nonlinear empirical models, the linear one can result in obvious larger estimations of the full bridges' responses, especially in cases of cable-stayed bridges.

Sensitivity and vibration reduction of buffeting induced resonance of hangers

Zhitian Zhang,Weifeng Zhang 한국풍공학회 2017 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.25 No.1

Buffeting induced resonance (BIR) of hangers on long-suspension bridges is briefly reviewed, including mechanism and experimental verification. Taken the Xihoumen suspension bridge as a numerical example, sensitivities of the BIR of hangers to wind properties are investigated, including types of wind spectrum, turbulence intensity, and spacial coherence of wind fluctuations. Numerical simulations indicate that the BIR of hangers occur to both cases of different wind spectra, showing that it is insensitive to types of wind spectrum. On the other hand, it is found that the turbulence intensity affects buffeting of main cables almost in a linear manner, and so it does to the BIR of the hangers; however, the resonance factors, namely the ratio of the response of the hanger to that of the main cable, are little affected by the turbulence intensity. The spacial coherence of the wind fluctuations, although plays an important role on the buffeting responses of the main structure, has no substantial effects on the BIR of the hangers. Finally, replacement of steel strand with CFRP material has been verified as a very effective countermeasure against the BIR of hangers.

Aerodynamic admittances of bridge deck sections: Issues and wind field dependence

Zhitian Zhang,Weifeng Zhang,Yaojun Ge 한국풍공학회 2017 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.25 No.3

Two types of aerodynamic admittance function (AAF) that have been adopted in bridge aerodynamics are addressed. The first type is based on a group of supposed relations between flutter derivatives and AAFs. In so doing, the aero-elastic properties of a section could be used to determine AAFs. It is found that the supposed relations hold only for cases when the gust frequencies are within a very low range. Predominant frequencies of long-span bridges are, however, far away from this range. In this sense, the AAFs determined this way are of little practical significance. Another type of AAFs is based on the relation between the Theodorsen circulation function and the Sears function, which holds for thin airfoil theories. It is found, however, that an obvious illogicality exists in this methodology either. In this article, a viewpoint is put forward that AAFs of bluff bridge deck sections are inherently dependent on oncoming turbulent properties. This kind of dependence is investigated with a thin plate and a double-girder bluff section via computational fluid dynamics method. Two types of wind fluctuations are used for identification of AAFs. One is turbulent wind flow while the other is harmonic. The numerical results indicate that AAFs of the thin plate agree well with the Sears AAF, and show no obvious dependence on the oncoming wind fields. In contrast, for the case of bluff double-girder section, AAFs identified from the turbulent and harmonic flows of different amplitudes differ among each other, exhibiting obvious dependence on the oncoming wind field properties.

An optimization framework of a parametric Octabuoy semi-submersible design

Xie, Zhitian,Falzarano, Jeffrey The Society of Naval Architects of Korea 2020 International Journal of Naval Architecture and Oc Vol.12 No.-

An optimization framework using genetic algorithms has been developed towards an automated parametric optimization of the Octabuoy semi-submersible design. Compared with deep draft production units, the design of the shallow draught Octabuoy semi-submersible provides a floating system with improved motion characteristics, being less susceptible to vortex induced motions in loop currents. The relatively large water plane area results in a decreased natural heave period, which locates the floater in the wave period range with more wave energy. Considering this, the hull design of Octabuoy semi-submersible has been optimized to improve the floater's motion performance. The optimization has been conducted with optimized parameters of the pontoon's rectangular cross section area, the cone shaped section's height and diameter. Through numerical evaluations of both the 1st-order and 2nd-order hydrodynamics, the optimization through genetic algorithms has been proven to provide improved hydrodynamic performance, in terms of heave and pitch motions. This work presents a meaningful framework as a reference in the process of floating system's design.

A more efficient numerical evaluation of the green function in finite water depth

Xie, Zhitian,Liu, Yujie,Falzarano, Jeffrey Techno-Press 2017 Ocean systems engineering Vol.7 No.4

The Gauss-Legendre integral method is applied to numerically evaluate the Green function and its derivatives in finite water depth. In this method, the singular point of the function in the traditional integral equation can be avoided. Moreover, based on the improved Gauss-Laguerre integral method proposed in the previous research, a new methodology is developed through the Gauss-Legendre integral. Using this new methodology, the Green function with the field and source points near the water surface can be obtained, which is less mentioned in the previous research. The accuracy and efficiency of this new method is investigated. The numerical results using a Gauss-Legendre integral method show good agreements with other numerical results of direct calculations and series form in the far field. Furthermore, the cases with the field and source points near the water surface are also considered. Considering the computational efficiency, the method using the Gauss-Legendre integral proposed in this paper could obtain the accurate numerical results of the Green function and its derivatives in finite water depth and can be adopted in the near field.

An optimization framework of a parametric Octabuoy semi-submersible design

Xie, Zhitian,Falzarano, Jeffrey The Society of Naval Architects of Korea 2020 International Journal of Naval Architecture and Oc Vol.12 No.1

An optimization framework using genetic algorithms has been developed towards an automated parametric optimization of the Octabuoy semi-submersible design. Compared with deep draft production units, the design of the shallow draught Octabuoy semi-submersible provides a floating system with improved motion characteristics, being less susceptible to vortex induced motions in loop currents. The relatively large water plane area results in a decreased natural heave period, which locates the floater in the wave period range with more wave energy. Considering this, the hull design of Octabuoy semi-submersible has been optimized to improve the floater's motion performance. The optimization has been conducted with optimized parameters of the pontoon's rectangular cross section area, the cone shaped section's height and diameter. Through numerical evaluations of both the 1st-order and 2nd-order hydrodynamics, the optimization through genetic algorithms has been proven to provide improved hydrodynamic performance, in terms of heave and pitch motions. This work presents a meaningful framework as a reference in the process of floating system's design.

Aerodynamic admittances of bridge deck sections: Issues and wind field dependence

Zhang, Zhitian,Zhang, Weifeng,Ge, Yaojun Techno-Press 2017 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.25 No.3

Two types of aerodynamic admittance function (AAF) that have been adopted in bridge aerodynamics are addressed. The first type is based on a group of supposed relations between flutter derivatives and AAFs. In so doing, the aero-elastic properties of a section could be used to determine AAFs. It is found that the supposed relations hold only for cases when the gust frequencies are within a very low range. Predominant frequencies of long-span bridges are, however, far away from this range. In this sense, the AAFs determined this way are of little practical significance. Another type of AAFs is based on the relation between the Theodorsen circulation function and the Sears function, which holds for thin airfoil theories. It is found, however, that an obvious illogicality exists in this methodology either. In this article, a viewpoint is put forward that AAFs of bluff bridge deck sections are inherently dependent on oncoming turbulent properties. This kind of dependence is investigated with a thin plate and a double-girder bluff section via computational fluid dynamics method. Two types of wind fluctuations are used for identification of AAFs. One is turbulent wind flow while the other is harmonic. The numerical results indicate that AAFs of the thin plate agree well with the Sears AAF, and show no obvious dependence on the oncoming wind fields. In contrast, for the case of bluff double-girder section, AAFs identified from the turbulent and harmonic flows of different amplitudes differ among each other, exhibiting obvious dependence on the oncoming wind field properties.

Sensitivity and vibration reduction of buffeting induced resonance of hangers

Zhang, Zhitian,Zhang, Weifeng Techno-Press 2017 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.25 No.1

Buffeting induced resonance (BIR) of hangers on long-suspension bridges is briefly reviewed, including mechanism and experimental verification. Taken the Xihoumen suspension bridge as a numerical example, sensitivities of the BIR of hangers to wind properties are investigated, including types of wind spectrum, turbulence intensity, and spacial coherence of wind fluctuations. Numerical simulations indicate that the BIR of hangers occur to both cases of different wind spectra, showing that it is insensitive to types of wind spectrum. On the other hand, it is found that the turbulence intensity affects buffeting of main cables almost in a linear manner, and so it does to the BIR of the hangers; however, the resonance factors, namely the ratio of the response of the hanger to that of the main cable, are little affected by the turbulence intensity. The spacial coherence of the wind fluctuations, although plays an important role on the buffeting responses of the main structure, has no substantial effects on the BIR of the hangers. Finally, replacement of steel strand with CFRP material has been verified as a very effective countermeasure against the BIR of hangers.

Vortex-induced oscillations of bridges: theoretical linkages between sectional model tests and full bridge responses

Zhang, Zhitian,Ge, Yaojun,Chen, Zhengqing Techno-Press 2014 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.19 No.3

Vortex-induced oscillation is a type of aeroelastic phenomenon, to which extended structures such as long-span bridges are most susceptible. The vortex-induced vibration (VIV) behaviors of a concerned bridge were investigated conventionally in virtue of wind tunnel tests on string-mounted sectional models. This necessitates the building of a linkage between the response of the sectional model and that of the prototype structure. Although many released literatures have related to this issue and provided suggestions, there is a lack of consistency among them. In this study, some theoretical models describing the vortex-induced structural motion, including the linear empirical model, the nonlinear empirical model and the modified (or generalized) nonlinear empirical model, are firstly reviewed. Then, the concept of equivalent mass density is introduced based on the principle that an equal input of energy should result in identical structural amplitudes. Based on these, the theoretical linkages between the amplitude of a section model and that corresponding to the prototype bridge are discussed with different analytical models. Theoretical derivation indicates that such connections are dependent mainly on two factors, one is the presupposed shape of deformation, and the other is the theoretical VIV model employed. The theoretical analysis in this study shows that, in comparison to the nonlinear empirical models, the linear one can result in obvious larger estimations of the full bridges' responses, especially in cases of cable-stayed bridges.

A genetic algorithms optimization framework of a parametric shipshape FPSO hull design

Xie, Zhitian,Falzarano, Jeffrey Techno-Press 2021 Ocean systems engineering Vol.11 No.4

An optimization framework has been established and applied to a shipshape parametric FPSO hull design. A single point moored (SPM) shipshape floating system suffers a significant level of the roll motion in both the wave frequencies and low wave frequencies, which presents a coupling effect with the horizontal weathervane motion. To guarantee the security of the operating instruments installed onboard, a parametric hull design of an FPSO has been optimized with improved hydrodynamics performance. With the optimized parameters of the various hull stations' longitudinal locations, the optimization through Genetic Algorithms (GAs) has been proven to provide a significantly reduced level of the 1st-order and 2nd-order roll motion. This work presents a meaningful framework as a reference in the process of an SPM shipshape floating system's design.