Identification of flutter derivatives of bridge decks with free vibration technique

The flutter derivatives of bridge decks can be determined in a unique manner on condition that the complex modal parameters of the system at one reduced frequency are obtained. Based on the idea, a new method of identifying the flutter derivatives of bridge decks is proposed and it can overcome some shortcoming of the existing method and extend the applicability of the free vibration technique at high wind velocity. The identified results have agreements with the target ones of an ideal thin-plate section and those of a thin-plate section measured by the forced vibration technique. The proposed method is reliable and effective to extract the flutter derivatives from coupled free vibration.