Time domain modeling of self-excited aerodynamic forces for cable-supported bridges: A comparative study

Prediction of the wind-induced dynamic response of suspension bridges, emphasizing self-excited forces, is discussed in this paper. The self-excited forces have been modeled by two commonly applied unsteady models and an unsteady model introduced and explained in this article. A novel frequency-independent approximation of the self-excited forces, which for the suspension bridge considered provides results as accurate as those from the unsteady models, is also presented. An integration method that may reduce the number of time steps necessary to avoid amplitude and phase distortion of the self-excited forces has been introduced and applied successfully in a comprehensive case study.