Probabilistic free vibration and flutter analyses of suspension bridges

A stochastic finite-element-based algorithm for the probabilistic free vibration and flutter analyses of suspension bridges is proposed in this paper through combination of the advantages of the response surface method, finite element method and Monte Carlo simulation. Uncertainties in the structural parameters can be taken into account in this algorithm. The efficiency and accuracy of the proposed algorithm are validated by comparison with results of Monte Carlo simulation. A response surface model consisting of a star experiment design and quadratic polynomial without cross terms is proposed. Deterministic finite element analyses are used to verify the model. The proposed method is applied to the probabilistic free vibration and flutter analyses of a long span suspension bridge.