Coupled Flutter Behavior and Mechanism of Flexible Suspended Footbridge

Flexible suspended footbridges are more prone to flutter than road bridges due to their lightweight, flexible, and slender structural features. Understanding the flutter generation mechanism and developing effective suppression methods are essential for the safe and reliable design of such footbridges. This study conducted complex eigenvalue analysis and wind tunnel tests to investigate the flutter characteristics of a flexible suspended footbridge with a solid deck. The results revealed that the aeroelastic coupling effect between torsional vibration and torsional-driven vertical vibration lead to torsional flutter. The prototype flexible suspended bridge in this paper was constructed by applying open grating to the entire deck to ensure wind stability.