The effects of aerodynamic interference on the aerodynamic characteristics of a twin-box girder

Abstract

To investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of a twin-box girder in turbulent incoming flow, we carried out wind tunnel tests, including two aerodynamic interferences: leading body-height grid, and leading circular cylinder. In this study, the pressure distribution and the mean and fluctuating aerodynamic forces with the two interferences are compared with bare deck in detail to investigate the relationship between aerodynamic characteristics and the incoming flow characteristics (including Reynolds number and turbulence intensity). The experimental results reveal that, owing to the body-height flow characteristics around the deck interfered with by the body-height grid, the disturbed aerodynamic characteristics of the twin-box girder differ considerably from those of the bare twin-box girder. At the upstream girder, due to the vortex emerging from the body-height grid breaking the separation bubble, pressure plateaus in the upper and lower surface are eliminated. In addition, the turbulence generated by the body-height grid reduces the Reynolds number sensitivity of the twin-box girder. At a relatively high Reynolds number, the fluctuating forces are mainly dominated by turbulence intensity, and the time-averaged forces show almost no change under high turbulence intensity. At a low Reynolds number, the time-averaged forces change significantly with the turbulence intensity. Moreover, at a low Reynolds number, the wake of the leading cylinder effectively forces the boundary layer to transition to turbulence, which reduces the Reynolds number sensitivity of the mean aerodynamic forces and breaks the separation bubbles. Additionally, the fluctuating drag force and the fluctuating lift force are insensitive to the diameter and the spacing ratio. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.