Experimental and numerical investigations on the effect of water-filled barriers on the vortex-induced vibrations of large span bridges

Water-filled barriers have been reported to significantly affect the vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) of large-span bridges. However, few studies have systematically investigated the influence mechanisms of water-filled barriers on bridge decks. In this research, both wind tunnel tests and numerical simulations were conducted to analyze the VIV behavior of the considered bridge model with various arrangements of water-filled barriers on the bridge deck. Six configurations with different water-filled barrier positions on the bridge deck were tested in a wind tunnel, and numerical simulations were conducted to explore the influence mechanisms of water-filled barriers. The results show that with the installation of water-filled barriers, the maximum RMS of the vertical VIV amplitudes are increased by 100% compared with that in Case 1 without water-filled barriers, whereas the torsional VIV amplitudes may slightly decrease. Compared with the most unfavorable case, where the water-filled barriers were positioned near the crash barriers, moving the water-filled barriers further away from the upstream or adopting a sparse arrangement along the bridge deck may reduce the VIV amplitudes. Therefore, it is important to consider both the incoming flow direction and the positioning of water-filled barriers on the deck should be considered in bridge maintenance to avoid the most unfavorable scenarios.