Aerodynamic performance analysis of wind-sand flow on suspension bridge suspender cables

With the deterioration of global climate and environment, the phenomenon of wind-sand flow frequently occurs in many regions. Suspension bridge suspender cables suffer corrosion and impact from wind-sand flow. The riding-type suspender cable with four strands which is commonly used in suspender cables of long-span suspension bridges is taken as an example to investigate the influence of wind-sand flow on the suspender cables. The wind-sand flow field around the suspender cables of a long-span suspension bridge is simulated within the FLUENT software on the basis of the numerical simulation of computational fluid dynamics. The forces produced by the wind-sand flow on the suspender cables are analyzed from the simulation, and then the numerical results and the calculated results based on a theoretical equation which was used to obtain the pressure on a building in a wind-sand area are compared together. Results show there are big differences between them. The reasons will be investigated in future research, and finally a new suitable theoretical equation for the pressure of wind-sand flow on suspender cables will be proposed.