Effects of wind barrier on the safety of vehicles driven on bridges

The evaluation of the sheltering efficiency of wind barriers is directly related to the safety of vehicles under crosswind. A series of work has been carried out in order to optimize the wind barrier scheme. Firstly, based on a large scale section model of bridge in the wind tunnel, the aerodynamic coefficients of two types of high-sided road vehicles, located on bridge deck, are obtained as different wind barriers installed on the bridge. Then the expressions of the aerodynamic forces on road vehicles are deduced based on the quasi-steady theory after considering the effects of turbulent wind on the yaw angle. Taking the natural wind, vehicle and bridge as an interaction system, a three-dimensional analytic model for the wind–vehicle–bridge coupling vibration system is presented. And the judging criterias for the vehicle safety are proposed according to the dynamic response of the vehicles. Based on the analytical model and the safety criteria, the sheltering efficiency of the wind barriers affecting the safety of vehicles driven on bridge has been finally investigated. The results show that the wind barriers have dramatically improved the driving stability of vehicles. Therefore, it can be recommended to adopt wind barriers according to their sheltering efficiency. •The aerodynamic coefficients of road vehicles are measured by wind tunnel test.•New expressions of the aerodynamic forces on vehicles are mathematically deduced.•The dimensionless judging criteria of RSC and SSC for vehicle safety are proposed.•The critical wind speed of vehicles is increased from 15m/s to 35m/s by wind barrier.