A new mathematical explanation of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse

Keywords

Code:
14/2013
Title:
A new mathematical explanation of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse
Date:
Saturday 23rd March 2013
Author(s):
Gianni Arioli, Filippo Gazzola
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Abstract:
The spectacular collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which occurred in 1940, has attracted the attention of engineers, physicists, and mathematicians in the last 70 years. There have been many attempts to explain this amazing event. Nevertheless, none of these attempts gives a satisfactory and universally accepted explanation of the phenomena visible the day of the collapse. The purpose of the present paper is to suggest a new mathematical model for the study of the dynamical behavior of suspension bridges which provides a realistic explanation of the Tacoma collapse.
This report, or a modified version of it, has been also submitted to, or published on
SIAM J. Appl. Math.