Aerodynamic flutter analysis of cable-supported bridges by multi-mode and full-mode approaches

A brief history of bridge flutter analysis is presented first. It is followed by an examination of a multi-mode procedure and a more comprehensive full-mode approach in aerodynamic flutter analysis of long-span cable-supported bridges. Particularly, when the span is very long and/or the structural stiffness is not fully implemented, a combination of more than two structural vibration modes can have an important role to decide the flutter characteristics. Some numerical examples are given to show the effectiveness of the full-mode approach by comparing the results with those from the two-mode and multi-mode procedures.