Ride comfort evaluation of stochastic traffic flow crossing long-span suspension bridge experiencing vortex-induced vibration

The long-span bridge is susceptible to various wind-induced vibrations owing to its high flexibility and low structural damping, among which the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) frequently emerges in recent years resulting in considerable public concerns. Although the VIV is a limited cyclic vibration, it can cause significant negative effects on the ride comfort of vehicles crossing the bridge. Evaluating the ride comfort of vehicles crossing long-span bridges under VIV, therefore, becomes urgent to make decisions on continuing or closing the operations of bridges. In view of this, this paper presents a general ride comfort evaluation procedure for stochastic traffic flow crossing the long-span bridge under VIV, which adequately considers the realistic traffic behavior and the complex interactions among wind, vehicles (traffic flow), and bridge. The developed procedure is validated through the field-monitoring data collected in a recent VIV event of a prototype long-span suspension bridge. On this basis, the ride comfort of vehicles in different traffic flows crossing the prototype bridge under VIV is evaluated through the criteria recommended in the ISO 2631-1 standard based on the overall vibration total value (OVTV). Moreover, the effects of traffic density, traffic proportion, and road roughness on drivers’ ride comfort are studied. •Comfort evaluation procedure for traffic flow crossing long-span bridge under VIV is proposed.•Complex interactions are considered through wind-traffic-bridge coupled analysis.•A field-monitoring VIV event is introduced for validation and demonstration.•Ride comfort of different traffic flows crossing a prototype bridge under VIV is evaluated.•Effects of traffic density, proportion, and road roughness on vehicle ride comfort are studied.