Quasi-steady analysis of a two-dimensional bridge deck element

Many techniques have been proposed in the last years for the study of the aeroelastic problems. Among these techniques, the analysis of the critical behavior of bridge decks has been performed using both frequency-domain and time-domain methods. Moving back to the basis of the theory, the limits and the possibilities of a quasi-steady approach are investigated, in order to analyze the effects of the widely used linearizations in the computation of fluid-structure interaction problems. A numerical example is analyzed, and the critical flutter speed evaluated. A model accounting for the aerodynamic nonlinearity is proposed and discussed.