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🌉 Bridge Aeroelastic Flutter: The Real Tacoma Narrows Mechanism

Explore why the 1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse was not simple resonance but self-reinforcing aeroelastic flutter, a runaway feedback loop between wind and structure.

Civil Engineering & Structural Mechanics3DModerate60 FPS💨 Air & Wind

How self-reinforcing aeroelastic flutter differs from simple resonance, showing coupled torsional and bending motion of a bridge deck growing without bound above a critical wind speed, and how deck cross-section shape and torsional stiffness shift that critical speed.

🔬 What It Demonstrates

🎮 How to Use

Choose a deck cross-section, either a thin solid plate, an open truss, or a streamlined box girder, then gradually increase wind speed using the slider while watching the torsional and bending displacement traces. Note the wind speed at which oscillations stop decaying and begin growing instead, then adjust torsional stiffness and damping ratio to see how each shifts that critical flutter speed.

💡 Did You Know?

The original Tacoma Narrows Bridge deck was only eight feet deep for a span of nearly a mile and a half, giving it very low torsional stiffness for its length. Its replacement, opened in 1950, used a deck box roughly three times deeper with an open, streamlined design, and has stood without incident ever since.

⚙ Under the hood

Explore why the 1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse was not simple resonance but self-reinforcing aeroelastic flutter, a runaway feedback loop between wind and structure.

aeroelasticityflutterbridge engineeringstructural dynamicswind engineeringtacoma narrowstorsional oscillationfluid structure interaction

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install