Albion College Mathematics and Computer Science Colloquium

 Title: The Collapse of The Tacoma Narrows Bridge Speaker: Kristen MooreAssistant ProfessorDepartment of MathematicsUniversity of Michigan Abstract: For decades, scientists in many disciplines have worked to explain the dramatic torsional oscillations that preceded the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940, as well as the puzzling behavior of suspension bridges such as the Golden Gate, the Bronx-Whitestone, and Deer Isle. The forty-year effort to control the behavior of the Deer Isle Bridge in Maine, and the recent closing of London's Millennium Bridge testify to the fact that the problem of controlling suspension bridge oscillations remains unsolved.I will discuss some popular explanations for the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. In addition, I will describe models for the motion of suspension bridges that yield rich and surprising numerical and theoretical results that explain the phenomena observed at Tacoma Narrows on the day of its collapse. Location: Palenske 227 Date: 5/4/2006 Time: 3:10 PM

@abstract{MCS:Colloquium:KristenMooreAssistantProfessorDepartmentofMathematicsUniversityofMichigan:2006:5:4,
author  = "{Kristen MooreAssistant ProfessorDepartment of MathematicsUniversity of Michigan}",
title   = "{The Collapse of The Tacoma Narrows Bridge}",
address = "{Albion College Mathematics and Computer Science Colloquium}",
month   = "{4 May}",
year    = "{2006}"
}