{"id":8278,"date":"2019-10-23T06:17:03","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T10:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/?p=8278"},"modified":"2026-03-26T06:03:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:03:06","slug":"exciting-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/exciting-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Exciting Days"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Incident<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The 7<sup>th<\/sup> November 1940\n was a particularly bad day to cross the Tacoma Narrow Bridge. At 11:00 \nam local time the bridge collapsed in a dramatic event. Barney Elliott, \nowner of a local camera shop recorded the collapse on&nbsp; 16 mm film (<a href=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/f\/f2\/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge_destruction.ogv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Link<\/a>).\n My favorite scene is at about 1:40min. Despite heavy swaying a \ngentleman seems unconcerned and is walking calmly on the bridge! The \nfact that no one got injured is best described as a miracle. (Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wikipedia<\/a>)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"364\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/Bridge-1024x364.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8285\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/Bridge-1024x364.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/Bridge-600x213.png 600w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/Bridge-768x273.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/Bridge-1110x394.png 1110w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/Bridge.png 1329w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption> Man walking on the Tacoma Narrow Bridge despite heavy swaying (image source: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge\" target=\"_blank\">Wikipedia<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is a famous incident, and you can find countless articles about it. Far less famous is the collapse of the Ferry Bridge Cooling Towers (UK) on the 1<sup>st<\/sup> November 1965.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/CoolingTowers.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8284\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/CoolingTowers.jpg 700w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/CoolingTowers-600x360.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption>Ferry Bridge Cooling Tower Collapse (image source: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/oct\/31\/weatherwatch-vortex-streets-that-can-flatten-power-stations\" target=\"_blank\">The Guardian<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p> What happened? In both cases wind  excited eigenmodes of the structures. A positive feedback between the  structure vibration and the flow led to ever growing amplitudes, and  ultimately to the collapse of the structures. In short, <em>Flutter.<\/em> Without the positive feedback loop the amplitudes would have remained constant, a phenomenon far less dangerous and known as <em>Limit-Cycle Oscillations (LCO).&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Challenge<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Both, flutter and LCO fall into the category of <em>Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI)<\/em> behavior and both are examples of <em>two<\/em><em>&#8211;<\/em><em>way<\/em><em> coupled <\/em>physics. The<em> <\/em>deformation of the structure impacts the flow, and the flow pressure impacts the structure. Unfortunately, two-way\n coupled FSI problems are particularly difficult to study because the \nsolution in one domain depends on the solution in the other domain and vice versa.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s travel back in time to the design process of the Tacoma Narrow Bridge. Let&#8217;s further assume we are fully aware that we have to  consider flutter. It is around 1935, and pretty much all we can do is  to build a model. The model has to represent the surface of the bridge accurately, which is doable even in 1935. But  at the same time the model must have the exact eigenmodes and  eigenfrequencies of the real bridge. In short, we have to get the entire mass distribution and stiffness right. But not only that, our model has to  fit into the wind tunnel, and we have to scale the operating conditions  with respect to our model size. All together an extremely challenging  task, to say the least.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Value of Simulation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Today we are no longer limited to experiments. With Simcenter STAR-CCM+ and Simcenter 3D it is straight forward to build accurate flow and structure simulation models. Not only that, the Simcenter Nastran to Simcenter  STAR-CCM+ Co-Simulation allows us now to couple both models together.  In short, the co-simulation executes the following operations  automatically:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The flow pressure is computed and send to the structure model&nbsp; <\/li><li>The resulting deformation is computed and send back to the flow model&nbsp; <\/li><li>The flow domain is updated accordingly&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>The co-simulation has been validated with the <em>High Reynolds Number <\/em><em>Aerostructural<\/em><em> Dynamics<\/em> <em>(HIRENSAD)<\/em> wind tunnel configuration of the <em>1<\/em><em><sup>st<\/sup><\/em><em> Aeroelastic Prediction Workshop<\/em>. In the experiments reported in <em>Ref. 1<\/em> the flow deforms the wing into a state of <em>Static Aeroelastic Equilibrium. <\/em>For the deformed wing lift and drag are report for different angles of attack. As you can see, the simulation results are in excellent agreement with the experimental data.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"952\" height=\"656\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/HIRENSADWithGraph.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/HIRENSADWithGraph.png 952w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/HIRENSADWithGraph-600x413.png 600w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/HIRENSADWithGraph-768x529.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 952px) 100vw, 952px\" \/><figcaption> HIRENSAD wing model, comparison of experimental data (Ref. 1) and simulation results&nbsp; <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">FSI &#8211; An Experience<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>If  you grow up close to a creek you may have played in the cold water  during a hot summer day. Did you ever put a stick upright in the current  and noticed that it starts to vibrate? I was recently reminded of such a childhood memory. I was standing hip deep in a river with heavy current, fishing for trout, and I was at the edge of loosing my balance. Suddenly my wading pole started to vibrate heavily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What an exciting day! All the hours spend studying fluid and structure mechanics at the university would finally pay off! I knew the solution to my problem. It was as simple as changing the natural frequency of my pole, and all I had to do was to put more or less body weight on it.\n The change in tension (here compression) changed the frequency in the \nsame way as tensioning a guitar string changes the tone.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a little while I was happy, but then I realized that my situation had not improved. I was still standing in the middle of the river. I tried to comfort myself thinking that at least it was not the 7<sup>th<\/sup> November 1940 and I was not standing on a bridge.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"> Recommended reading &amp; references:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Simcenter STAR-CCM+ Documentation: <em>Tutorials &gt; Coupling with CAE Codes &gt; Simcenter Nastran Co-Simulation: Disc Valve <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/DiscValve-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8293\" width=\"124\" height=\"113\" \/><figcaption>Disc Valve Tutorial<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Ref. 1<\/em>: Ballmann, J., Dafnis, A., Korsch, H., Buxel, C., Reimerdes, H.-G., Brakhage, K.-H., Olivier, H., Braun, C., Baars, A., and Boucke,  A. Experimental Analysis of High Reynolds Number Aero-Structural  Dynamics in ETW, AIAA 2008-841, Presented at the 46th AIAA Aerospace  Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, NV, January 7-10, 2008.\u200b&nbsp; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 7th November 1940  was a particularly bad day to cross the Tacoma Narrow Bridge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2780,"featured_media":8319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spanish_translation":"","french_translation":"","german_translation":"","italian_translation":"","polish_translation":"","japanese_translation":"","chinese_translation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[242,98,95],"industry":[],"product":[577,581,513],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-8278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-computational-fluid-dynamics-cfd","tag-finite-element-method","tag-fluid-structure-interaction-fsi","product-simcenter-3d","product-simcenter-nastran","product-simcenter-star-ccm"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/10\/Bridge02-1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2780"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8278"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8353,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8278\/revisions\/8353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8278"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=8278"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=8278"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=8278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}