Developments in Low-Speed Aeroelasticity in the Civil Engineering Field

The field of low-speed aeroelasticity in civil engineering has grown in application over the last four decades. Benefitting in broad terms from the guidance of earlier work done in aeronautics, the field has developed a distinct character of its own, centered principally on the problems of flows about bluff bodies. These problems can be conveniently classified into the categories of vortex-induced oscillation, galloping, flutter, and buffeting. Each has developed specialized theory based upon key experimental inputs. In particular, the field of suspension bridge aeroelasticity has received extensive experimental and analytical treatment since the days of the pivotal Tacoma Narrows incident. The present paper briefly outlines the state-of-the-art in civil engineering aeroelasticity, accompanying this with a number of appropriate references.