Inverse identification of buffeting and self-excited wind loads on the hardanger bridge from acceleration data

The traditional wind load assessment for long-span bridges rely on assumed models for the wind field and aerodynamic coefficients from wind tunnel tests, which usually introduces some uncertainties. It is therefore desired to develop tools that can utilize full-scale vibration response data from existing bridges in order to study the wind loading in detail for in-situ conditions. This paper presents a novel case study of inverse identification of dynamic wind loads on the 1310 m long Hardanger bridge, a suspension bridge equipped with a network of accelerometers. The identification method used is an extented Kalman-type filter for joint input, state, and parameter estimation. A system model considering the still-air modes in addition to a quasi-steady submodel for the self-excited forces of the bridge is presente. The coefficients for self-excited lift and pitching moment are considered unknown and are jointly estimated with the buffeting forces.