9705648 Scanlan By theory of aeroelesticity, motion of a body or object in wind is accompanied by time-varying aerodynamic lift occasioned by the crossflow. This lift lags behind the body motion, exhibiting a time delay in its "build-up". Such characteristics are typified by indicial lift functions that accompany a unit step change in angle of attack of the body. This project will study the character of such indicial functions for various bridge deck shapes through a novel application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) which, while employing an established computational code, applies it in a new way that avoids the considerable complications associated with following full-cycle body oscillation. The particular application - the stability of bridge decks under high winds- is of direct usefulness in design studies for long- span bridges. The research offers the prospect of entirely avoiding certain wind tunnel experiments related to bridge stability, thus making the design cycle more efficient, particularly for long-span bridges. ***
