Wind-induced vibration of a cantilever arch rib supported by a flexible cable system

The wind-resistant performance of bridges is generally evaluated based on the strip assumption. For the arch rib of arch bridges, the situation is different due to the curve axis and the variable cross-sectional size. In the construction stage, the arch rib supported by a cable system exhibits flexible dynamic characteristics, and the wind-resistant performance attracts specially attention. To evaluate the wind-induced vibration of an arch rib with the maximum cantilever state, the finite element model was established to compute the structural dynamic characteristics. Then, a three-dimensional (3D) fluid-solid coupling analysis method was realized. After verifying the reliability of the method based on a square column, the wind-induced vibration of the arch rib was computed. The vortex-induced vibration (VIV) performance of the arch rib was focused and the flow field characteristics were discussed to explain the VIV phenomenon. The results show that the arch rib with the maximum cantilever state had the possibility of VIV at high wind speeds but the galloping was not observed. The lock-in wind speeds were larger than the results based on the strip assumption. Due to the vibration of arch rib, the frequency of shedding vortices along the arch axis trended to be uniform.