ERI: Enhancing Life-cycle Resilience of Cable-Stayed Bridges to Extreme Winds through Aero-Structural Optimization
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This Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) award will address key challenges in the life-cycle design of wind-sensitive cable-stayed bridges. Medium- and long-span cable-stayed bridges are gaining momentum in use, given their capability to span distances from 300 to 1000 meters. However, US coastal regions experience hurricanes and other extreme wind events that affect the performance and safety of cable-stayed bridges during construction, service, and long-term conditions. Taking advantage of the digital revolution and the continuous improvement of computer-aided simulations and data-driven design methods, this research will recast the design method for cable-stayed bridges currently used in the bridge industry based on heuristic experience-based design strategies that have relied only on wind tunnel testing or in-situ performance evaluation. A new simulation-based, multi-model, aero-structural design optimization methodology will seek material reduction while keeping the bridge?s required life-cycle performance and safety levels, thus achieving the desired reduction in carbon footprint. This research will synergistically combine education and outreach activities at a minority-serving institution, including curriculum development, training demonstrations in wind tunnel testing, and student tours to local bridge construction sites. This award contributes to the National Science Foundation (NSF) role in the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program. Data generated from this project will be archived and made publicly available in the NSF-supported Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) DesignSafe Date Depot (https://www.DesignSafe-ci.org).
This research will develop a novel computational methodology for the aero-structural design optimization of cable-stayed bridges considering multiple phases of their life-cycle under extreme wind loading. The overarching goal is the development of a holistic design methodology that permits further exploring the effects of deck shape modifications on the life-cycle performance of the bridge under extreme winds to achieve a sustainable and cost-effective design while improving the life-cycle aeroelastic performance. The research will synthesize the state-of-the-art capabilities of bridge aerodynamics, linear and nonlinear aeroelasticity models, computational fluid dynamic simulations, machine learning, finite element modeling-based multi-model design, and optimization algorithms. The research objectives include (i) develop linear and nonlinear wind-resistant performance models for the life-cycle design of bridges, (ii) develop multi-fidelity aeroelastic surrogates for the shape-dependent emulation of fluid-structure interaction parameters, and (iii) formulate efficient multi-model surrogate-based aero-structural design optimization strategies. The research will address the aeroelastic life-cycle performance of a cable-stayed bridge when changing the bridge deck cross-section and other key design variables and the life-cycle aero-structural optimum design of a cable-stayed bridge for a particular location, local climate, and project specifications.
