Effects of fundamental factors on coupled vibration of wind-rail vehicle-bridge system for long-span cable-stayed bridge

In a wind-vehicle-bridge (WVB) system, there are various interactions among wind, vehicle and bridge. The mechanism for coupling vibration of wind-vehicle-bridge systems is explored to demonstrate the effects of fundamental factors, such as mean wind, fluctuating wind, buffeting, rail irregularities, light rail vehicle vibration and bridge stiffness. A long cable-stayed bridge which carries light rail traffic is regarded as a numerical example. Firstly, a finite element model is built for the long cable-stayed bridge. The deck can generally be idealized as three-dimensional spine beam while cables are modeled as truss elements. Vehicles are modeled as mass-spring-damper systems. Rail irregularities and wind fluctuation are simulated in time domain by spectrum representation method. Then, aerodynamic loads on vehicle and bridge deck are measured by section model wind tunnel tests. Eight vertical and torsional flutter derivatives of bridge deck are identified by weighting ensemble least-square method. Finally, dynamic responses of the WVB system are analyzed in a series of cases. The results show that the accelerations of the vehicle are excited by the fluctuating wind and the track irregularity to a great extent. The transverse forces of wheel axles mainly depend on the track irregularity. The displacements of the bridge are predominantly determined by the mean wind and restricted by its stiffness. And the accelerations of the bridge are enlarged after adding the fluctuating wind.