Model and control of a flap system mitigating wind impact on structures

In this work, we investigate a model-based control for a flap system aiming at mitigating wind-induced vibrations of long-span bridges. Our contribution is threefold: first, we developed an integrated flap system able to control a bridge section model; second, we proposed a model able to properly capture the nonlinear interaction between wind and the structure; third, we optimized a linear control law for the flap position able to robustly cope with the nonlinear forces exerted on the flap. The model accuracy and the system performance were systematically validated by wind tunnel experiments.