Flutter and Buffeting Analysis. I: Finite-Element and RPE Solution

Abstract

A finite-element formulation is developed for analyzing flutter instability and buffeting response of long-span bridges and their interaction. The flutter derivatives, instead of the indicial functions used by previous researchers, are applied in the random parametric excitation (RPE) analysis. This application makes finite-element formulation possible and results in much less computational effort in RPE analysis than those of previous analyses. With the finite-element program developed in the present study, as many modes as desired can be easily included in the flutter and buffeting analyses. Users have the choice of RPE or eigenvalue method for flutter analysis and RPE or spectral method for buffeting analysis.