Papers

@article{badhurshah_assessment_2024,

title = {Assessment of the Aerodynamic and Aeroelastic Performance of Long-Span Twin-Box Bridges Based upon Multidimensional Surrogate Models},

author = {Rameez Badhurshah and Antonio J. Álvarez-Naveira and Félix Nieto-Mouronte and José Ángel Jurado-Albarracín-Martinón and Santiago Hernández-Ibáñez},

url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/13/5531},

doi = {10.3390/app14135531},

issn = {2076-3417},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2026-04-21},

journal = {Applied Sciences},

volume = {14},

number = {13},

pages = {5531},

publisher = {Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute},

abstract = {Twin-box decks are being extensively used in the design of long-span bridges due to their superior flutter performance. Although the significant role played by the gap distance has been previously addressed in the frame of experimental studies, there is still a lack of understanding about the complex interplay between box geometry, gap distance and the aerodynamic force coefficients and flutter derivatives. In the present work, firstly, a surrogate model is developed, considering three design inputs for the geometry of the deck along with the angle of attack, providing the force coefficients as output. Afterwards, the work is then extended by developing another surrogate model, considering as inputs the reduced velocity and the same geometric variables of the deck, with the outputs being the flutter derivatives. The methodology, comprising the selection of the design domain, the definition of the samples, the CFD-based evaluation of the samples' response and the construction of the surrogate through the application of the neural network-based radial basis method, is reviewed. The surrogate models enable a quantitative description of the impact caused in the force coefficients and the flutter derivatives by modifications in the geometry of the twin-box deck. It has been found that flutter derivatives H1*, H2* and A2* are strongly dependent on the gap distance.},

keywords = {CFD, flutter, Latin Hypercube Sampling, radial basis, surrogate modelling, textit{k-ω} SST, Twin-box, URANS},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{antoniadis_ucns3d_2022,

title = {UCNS3D: An open-source high-order finite-volume unstructured CFD solver},

author = {Antonis F. Antoniadis and Dimitris Drikakis and Pericles S. Farmakis and Lin Fu and Ioannis Kokkinakis and Xesús Nogueira-Garea and Paulo A. S. F. Silva and Martin Skote and Vladimir Titarev and Panagiotis Tsoutsanis},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010465522001722},

doi = {10.1016/j.cpc.2022.108453},

issn = {0010-4655},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-10-01},

urldate = {2026-08-11},

journal = {Computer Physics Communications},

volume = {279},

pages = {108453},

abstract = {UCNS3D is an open-source computational solver for compressible flows on unstructured meshes. State-of-the-art high-order methods and their associated benefits can now be implemented for industrial-scale CFD problems due to the flexibility and highly-automated generation offered by unstructured meshes. We present the governing equations of the physical models employed in UCNS3D, and the numerical framework developed for their solution. The code has been designed so that extended to other systems of equations and numerical models is straightforward. The employed methods are validated towards a series of stringent well-established test problems against experimental or analytical solutions, where the full capabilities of UCNS3D in terms of applications spectrum, robustness, efficiency, and accuracy are demonstrated. 

Program summary 

Program title: UCNS3D (Unstructured Compressible Flow Solver) CPC Library link to program files: https://doi.org/10.17632/222zh873kh.1 Developer's repository link: https://github.com/ucns3d-team/UCNS3D Licensing provisions: GNU General Public License 3 Programming language: Fortran2008 Nature of problem: UCNS3D is intended for the simulation of compressible flows in 2D and 3D unstructured meshes, by employing high-resolution, high-order methods capable of providing physically meaningful results in a computational efficient manner. The solver is designed for a broad range of problems encountered in engineering applications such as transitional, fully turbulent, and multicomponent flows with several fidelity level modelling options available. Solution method: The present software includes multiple physical models, numerical methods, and modelling techniques such as iLES, RANS, DES for unstructured meshes. The software has been developed such that the inclusion of additional physical models and numerical methods can be easily accommodated.},

keywords = {CFD, Finite-volume, High-order, HPC, Open-source, Parallel},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nieto_shape_2022,

title = {Shape optimization of tall buildings cross-section: Balancing profit and aeroelastic performance},

author = {Félix Nieto-Mouronte and Miguel Cid-Montoya and Santiago Hernández-Ibáñez},

url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tal.1982},

doi = {10.1002/tal.1982},

issn = {1541-7808},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

urldate = {2026-08-10},

journal = {The Structural Design of Tall and Special Buildings},

volume = {31},

number = {18},

pages = {e1982},

abstract = {Shape optimization is an effective tool to improve the aerodynamic performance of tall buildings by introducing minor modifications to the original project. Nevertheless, economic criteria demand efficient cross sections aiming at maximizing the building's profitability. These two contradictory criteria are commonly handled by adopting multi-objective optimization approaches seeking the definition of Pareto fronts. However, the aerodynamic nonlinear features of low-aspect-ratio cross sections typically adopted in architectural practice can cause wind-induced acceleration response surfaces over the considered design domain with multiple local minima that eventually lead to discontinuous Pareto fronts with non-convex regions. This study delves into this problem and proposes a design framework that effectively combines the reduced basis method with multi-objective optimization techniques to carry out the aerodynamic shape optimization using surrogates trained with CFD simulations. The ability of the optimization strategy to properly define the non-convex regions of discontinuous Pareto fronts is successfully leveraged by adopting the weighted min–max method.},

keywords = {CFD, kriging, multi-objective shape optimization, reduced basis, tall buildings, weighted min–max method},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{cid_montoya_cfd-based_2018,

title = {CFD-based aeroelastic characterization of streamlined bridge deck cross-sections subject to shape modifications using surrogate models},

author = {M. Cid Montoya and Félix Nieto-Mouronte and Santiago Hernández-Ibáñez and I. Kusano and Antonio J. Álvarez-Naveira and José Ángel Jurado-Albarracín-Martinón},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167610517301290},

doi = {10.1016/j.jweia.2018.01.014},

issn = {0167-6105},

year  = {2018},

date = {2018-06-01},

urldate = {2026-08-04},

journal = {Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics},

volume = {177},

pages = {405–428},

abstract = {The classical approach currently used in the bridge engineering industry for the structural and aeroelastic design of bridges is based on an iterative heuristic process which includes wind tunnel testing. The dependency on experimental techniques for the aeroelastic characterization of the bridge deck cross-section requires a substantial amount of resources, and consequently the number of potential candidate designs must be limited. The fast improvements in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques in recent years have led to its use in the industrial field, and consequently bridge design methods must be updated. This paper proposes a fully numerical strategy to overcome the classical iterative process in bridge deck shape design. Firstly, it consists in constructing a surrogate model of the aerodynamic response of the baseline cross-section and the allowed shape variations by conducting a set of CFD simulations of several sample designs. Then, the force coefficients and their slopes can be obtained for every design included in the design domain, the flutter derivatives can be approximated by the quasi-steady formulation, and the flutter velocity can be computed. This procedure is applied to two cable-stayed bridges with different spans, and the reported results are validated with wind tunnel tests.},

keywords = {Aerodynamics, aeroelasticity, Bridge sections, CFD, Quasi-steady formulation, Surrogate models, Wind tunnels},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}