AEROELASTIC DIVERGENCE OF SUSPENSION BRIDGES

A comparative analysis is made of the static stability to wind of suspension bridge systems. In this analysis the wind was assumed as an incompressible horizontal fluid in steady-state flow, while the bridge decks as rigid lifting surfaces elastically clamped at their ends. The typical cross section of each structural system at zero incidence was subjected to a small bending-torsional perturbation. At the limit state of equilibrium between aerodynamic and elastic forces, the static phenomenon of binary divergence occurs. The corresponding wind divergence velocities were used as comparative criteria of the hanged, anchored, and prestressed suspension bridge systems.