Experimental analysis of additional aerodynamic effects caused by wind-driven rain on bridge main girder

To study the additional aerodynamic effect on a bridge girder under the action of wind-driven rain, the rainfall similarity considering raindrop impact and surface water is first given. Then, the dynamic characteristics and the process of vortex and flutter generation of the segment models under different rain intensities and angles of attack are tested by considering several typical main girder sections as examples. The test results indicate that the start and end wind speeds, interval length and number of vortex vibrations remain unchanged when it is raining, rainfall will reduce the wind-induced vortex response. When test rain intensity is large, the decrease of amplitude is obvious. However, after considering the rain intensity similarity in this study, all of actual maximum rain intensities after conversion approach the domestic extreme rain intensity of approximately 709 mm/h. It can be observed that rainfall has a limited influence on the dynamic characteristics of the structure and vortex vibration response. When the test rain intensity is 120 mm/h, the critical wind speed of the model flutter increases by 20%-30%. However, after considering the rain intensity similarity ratio, the influence of rainfall on the wind-induced flutter instability of the bridge girder may be ignored.