Probability of Overturning for Vehicles Moving on a Bridge Deck in a Wind Environment Considering Stochastic Process Characteristics of Excitations

Abstract

Based on a wind-vehicle-bridge analysis system and quasi-steady pneumatic force coefficient data obtained from wind tunnel tests, the problem of moving vehicles on a cable-stayed bridge deck overturning in a strong wind environment is studied, with the probability evaluation as the emphasis. It is put forward that the evaluation of a vehicle’s overturning is a probability problem that a stochastic process overpasses a threshold level, and the influence of the statistic process characteristics of excitations on driving safety is profoundly discussed in the paper. The analysis shows that the higher the driving speed, the more obvious the effect of statistic process characteristics tends to be. Moreover, the influence degree of stochastic process characteristics is relevant to the wind velocity range of the dynamic reliability curve and the range of the probability distribution for the mean wind velocity. When the range of the former is broad enough and overlaps with the range of the latter, the influence of stochastic process characteristics should be considered. Wind barriers can promote a safe driving velocity from 80 to