Numerical simulation on the aeroelastic effects of uni-directional suspension structures

A computer-aided simulation approach for wind-structure interaction analysis of flexible roof structures was presented. This approach was performed by a partitioned solution strategy, which include three modules. In CFD module, the Taylor-Galerkin method was adopted for finite element solution of the unsteady Navier-Stokes equations and using Large Eddy Simulation method for turbulence. In CSD module, the dynamic non-linear structural response was described by Update Lagrangian formulation and an implicit time-stepping procedure was adopted. In CMD module, an ALE formulation was used to describe the moving grids. The time-dependent simulation process was controlled by an iteration procedure between these three modules until convergence was reached within each time-step. Finally, the aeroelastic response of the one-way type suspension roofs was simulated by the coupled algorithm. The effects of several factors, such as wind speed, roof mass and prestress et al, were studied to investigate the behaviors of wind-structure interaction. It was shown that, the wind-induced dynamic responses of tension structures can be characterized by forced vibration process. The excitation of roof structures is due to vortex shedding. When these vortices flow downstream, the kinetic energy of the turbulent motion will transform to structural elastic potential energy, which makes the roof vibration like vortex-induced one. Wind speed, structural mass and prestress play important role to the behavior of wind-structures interaction. It would be unreliable when the wind-induced analysis is carried out without consideration of the wind-structure interaction for some cases, especially for flexible roof structures.