Determination of aerodynamic forces on stationary/moving vehicle-bridge deck system under crosswinds using computational fluid dynamics

To investigate the safety of road vehicles running on a long-span bridge under high crosswinds, the aerodynamic forces of a moving vehicle-bridge deck system need to be determined. This paper reports the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate the aerodynamic forces on coupled vehicle-bridge deck systems under crosswinds in terms of aerodynamic coefficients. The aerodynamic coefficients of a stationary vehicle-deck system were simulated and then compared with wind tunnel results. A relative velocity method was then used to obtain the aerodynamic forces of a moving vehicle-deck system. The moving effects on the aerodynamic forces on the vehicle-deck system were evaluated. The results show that the movement of the vehicle on the first lane of the bridge deck does affect the aerodynamic coefficients of the bridge deck but has only slight effects on the aerodynamic coefficients of the vehicle if the relative yaw angle to the vehicle is taken into account.