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Aeroelasticity Phenomenon (Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster)

Background
This project deals with the interaction of wind with the elastic characteristics of a structure, which
enables the structure to take energy from the wind and to vibrate. Under the condition called
resonance, the structure will oscillate wildly. Forced resonance will be demonstrated in this
experiment. This idea has been erroneously connected to the catastrophic failure of a bridge in 1940,
the infamous Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster (seen below).

Figure 1 Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster

The extreme motion of the bridge shown above is much more complex than what we will explore in
this experiment. Though the experiment has some elements of the bridge phenomenon. The bridge
failure was the result of torsional flutter. Torsion means twisting motion, and flutter can be explained
unstable vibration caused by aerodynamics forces.

Technical Discussion
The project uses the combined technologies of fluid dynamics and structures. In fluid dynamics, use is
made of the Von Karman vortex street. The street is a series of vortices or swirling motions that are
shed from a cylinder immersed in a fluid flow. (The fluid may be either gas or liquid, but for our
purpose, only air will be considered). The shedding is the result of the inability of the fluid to
completely follow the contour of the cylinder as a result of fluid viscosity. For a certain range of air
stream velocities and cylinder diameters, the shedding has a regular frequency, and hence, can serve as
the excitation of a structure. A wooden circular cylinder will represent the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in
the experiment. The flow around a cylinder, and the vortex shedding, is shown in Figure 2.
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Figure 2

Theoretical development for air flow over a cylinder

The frequency of the shedding of the vortices related to the velocity of air flowing over a cylinder is
given in equation 1

(Equation 1)

where f = frequency of shed vortices, rad/sec, V = airstream velocity, in/sec and d equals cylinder
diameter, inches. Thus, by inserting a cylinder of diameter d inches into an airstream flowing at V
inches/second we will shed vortices at a frequency, f, of radians/second. To complete our system, we
build a cylinder that is supported in the flow by a spring. This can be represented diagrammatically as:

Figure 3

The suspended cylinder will oscillate at a frequency determined by the mass, m, of the cylinder and the
stiffness of the spring (k):
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(Equation 2)

weight
where m = . The spring stiffness has units lb/inch.
386.1
Equipment needed to conduct the experiment
1. Fan or blower capable of generating a range of air velocities.
2. Several wooden cylinders of diameters between 0.5 and 3 inches.
3. One or more sets of four springs, each with stiffness ranging from 0.5 to 18 lb/inch.

The hardware that is used in the experiment is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4

The fan provides the air stream that excites the spring-mounted cylinder. The four springs are attached
to the cylinder on top and bottom near each end of the cylinder. The attachment can be made using eye
hooks. The cylinder length should be enough so that it spans the exit nozzle of the fan. The ends of the
springs that are not attached to the cylinder are to be attached to the rigid support frame. The frame
must be strong enough not only to hold the cylinder in front of the fan, but also to hold it when it is
bouncing (caused by the air flow over the cylinder).

What is required to complete the experiment is to size the hardware so that the frequencies of the shed
vortices and the spring-mass system coincide. In order to apply the equation for the natural frequency
of the spring-mass system, we will need an equivalent stiffness of four springs. This has been done and
incorporated into the figure 5. The spring constant shown in figure 5 is for one spring. You can
measure this for any spring you might use by supporting one end of the spring and adding a known
weight. Measuring the deflection will yield the spring constant by taking the slope of the straight line
that results. For a range of spring constants and cylinder diameters that are readily purchased, the flow
velocity that is required out of the fan is shown in Figure 5.
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Figure 5

An alternative to measuring the velocity of the flowing air is to measure the pressure of the airstream
as it is brought to rest. This is called the total pressure. It can be measured by an airstream as it is
brought to rest. An apparatus, as shown in Figure 6, can measure total pressure. This device uses the
principle of Bernoullis law to relate the pressure of the moving air stream as it is brought to a rest in
the total head probe. The speed of the airstream will vary over the entire area of the fan so the velocity
should be measured at the front of the cylinder.

Figure 6

The preceding graph, Figure 5, becomes:

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Figure 7

The velocity of the air must be in the ballpark of the values shown in the Figure 5. Alternately, the
airstream pressure must be in the ballpark of the values shown in Figure 7. The cylinder will
oscillate at a frequency in accordance with equation 1 and the cylinder diameter also shown on the
graphs. When the frequency of the excitation from the moving air stream is the same as the natural
frequency of the cylinder/spring (spring-mass) system, resonance occurs and the system will
oscillate wildly.

Measurements
Spring constant
Air velocity
Cylinder oscillation as a function of speed for fixed cylinder diameter
Cylinder oscillation as a function of cylinder diameter for fixed airspeed
Frequency of oscillation of the spring-mass system for various springs and weights

Further Reading
Billah, K.Y., Scanlan, R. H. Resonance, Tacoma Narrows bridge failure, and undergraduate physics,
American Journal of Physics, 59 (2), February
1992
Schlicting, H. Boundary Layer Theory, Mcgraw-Hill Book Co. New York, 1960