Wong Guan Xiang

KEM150132 Quiz 1 KMEM4214 Applied Vibration

Collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge: Case Study

Introduction
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is the historical name given to the twin suspension bridge originally built
in 1940 that spanned the Tacoma Narrows strait. It collapsed just four months later due to several
reasons. Since then, this topic has become popular, with several case studies discussing the failure
phenomenon of suspension cable bridges. In this case study, we are going to discuss the causes of the
phenomenon in the vibration point of view.

What is Vibration and How Did It Destroy the Bridge?

Vibration is the periodic back-and-forth motion of the particles of an elastic body or medium, commonly
resulting when almost any physical system is displaced from its equilibrium condition and allowed to
respond to the forces that tend to restore equilibrium.

On the day of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse, it experienced winds of about 19 m/s. The center
of the bridge was torsionally vibrating at a frequency of 36 cpm (cycles/min) in nine different segments.
Over the next hour, the torsional vibration amplitude built up and the motion had changed from
rhythmically rising and falling to a two-wave twisting. The bridge was twisted noticeably into two parts,
experiencing 14 vibrations/min. This drastic torsional motion was started by a failure of a band
connecting to the center of the diagonal ties. Due to alternative sagging and hogging of span members,
the towers holding them were pulled towards them and causing the failure.

In this case here, wind-induced oscillations (or vibrations) has caused the bridge to resonate on its
natural frequency, causing the amplitude to grow with time and causing catastrophic failure given by
the equation below:
𝐹𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑
𝐴𝑜𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 =
𝑓𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 − 𝑓𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑

When the difference between the natural frequency of the bridge and the frequency of the wind
approaches zero, it will increase the amplitude of the oscillation towards infinity. This is regarded as
aerodynamic flutter and is the main cause of the collapse.

Further Discussions

As researchers dive deeper into finding the root cause of the event, it is found that there are more
engineering mistakes overlooked when designing the bridge. These mistakes include:

a) In ordinary bridge design, the wind is allowed to pass through the structure by incorporating
trusses. In contrast, in the case of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, it was forced to move above
and below the structure, leading to flow separation. Such flow separation, in the presence of an
object, can lead to the development of vortex shedding, as the flow passes through the object.
Due to these vortices, a fluctuating force on the body is induced which caused vibrations in the
structure.
b) The bridge was made with wind-resisting girders rather than deep-stiffening trusses due to the
sake of aesthetic appearance, which caused the stiffness of the bridge to be only 1/3 of the other
similar bridges during that time. Furthermore, the low dampening ability of the bridge also
caused large vertical oscillations even in moderate winds.

Recommendations

Bridges should be designed by considering aerodynamic flutter, resonance effect and vortex shedding.
Weight and stiffness of the bridge should also be considered to increase strength of bridge.