Driving Comfort and Tracking Ability of Vehicles on Floating Bridges Moving due to Wind and Water Disturbances

Research Motivating Problem:

Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) is projecting a number of bridges along the Norwegian east coast. The roadway will sway, heave and roll due to water and wind loads. The vehicle will be affected by forces also directly from the wind. Different road grip conditions and different vehicle types will be further variations to model. It is not known on which conditions the bridge has to be closed to secure traffic safety.

Envisioned product/solution:

A computational framework should be developed, combining Bridge
motion models, Vehicle aerodynamic models and Vehicle motion models.

Research questions:

•What will limit a safe use of the bridge?
•How to express these limits in terms of water and wind characteristics and vehicle parameters/speed?

Deliverables:

•Computational framework
•Proposed vehicle parameters for “probe vehicles” for different vehicle types
•Verification for at least one bridge design