Monitoring-Based Evaluation of Wind-Induced Vibration and Travel Comfort of Long-Span Suspension Bridge

In this paper, evaluation of wind-induced vibration and travel comfort of the long-span suspension bridge were comprehensively conducted based on multisource monitoring data. The wind field distribution and turbulent characteristics during the normal and vortex-induced vibration (VIV) period were comparatively revealed. It reveals that the bridge experienced vertical VIV due to the long-duration wind with specific speed perpendicularly acting on the girder, which cannot be predicted by the turbulence intensity and gust factor. Meanwhile, dynamic response evolution, VIV lock-in effect, modal identification, and wavelet spectrum were further explored based on displacement and acceleration. The VIV frequency was consistent with a natural frequency of the bridge, whose mode can been determined by the deflection correlation heat map. The VIV was due to periodic vortex shedding generate aerodynamic forces, and the reaction of the structure vibration on vortex shedding can cause the vortex shedding frequency to be “locked” over a considerable range of wind speeds. According to driving visual safety and vibration tolerance, it is indicated that such VIV of the bridge may lead to the very discomfort for driving and pedestrian can tolerate short-term vibration in this period. Comfort evaluation for the bridge during the VIV should be further improved accuracy and reliability, which can contribute to emergency response to VIV situations. Note that a certain degree of discomfort may occur under normal vibration conditions, which raises doubts about the reasonableness of the limit value.