Passive control of suspension bridges under multi-mode buffeting vibration

The objective of this paper is to study the control of multi-mode buffeting response of long-span suspension bridges using multiple TMDs. The optimal TMDs' properties are determined by minimizing the maximum multi-mode buffeting response of the bridge which can be found by using the Optimization Toolbox of the MATLAB program. A dual-level pseudo optimal methodology is proposed to provide a quick estimation of these TMDs' properties. The Shantou Bay Suspension Bridge located in the southern coast of China is used as an example to demonstrate the control effects of the dual TMDs as well as to verify the accuracy of the proposed dual-level pseudo optimal methodology. The results show that the dual TMDs offer a more effective and more uniform response reduction for a long-span suspension bridge vibrates in multiple modes