Rune Brincker

Dr. Rune Brincker


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

1Year (2026-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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8 October 2026 in Buildings
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
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JSJanis Sliseris
Janis Sliseris
ABAndris Bērziņš
Andris Bērziņš
LGLiga Gaile
Liga Gaile
Janis BraunfeldsJanis Braunfelds
Janis Braunfelds
RJRims Janeliukstis
Rims Janeliukstis
RBRune Brincker
Rune Brincker
Historical slender steel towers designed before modern fatigue provisions require evidence-based procedures to assess their remaining fatigue life under wind action. This study presents a time-domain fatigue life estimation procedure and applies it to the 368.5 m Riga TV tower, the tallest structure in the Baltic states, completed in 1989. Because the tower’s materials and construction predate current European standards and its height-varying cross-section and closely spaced modes are not well represented by the simplified structural factor of EN 1991-1-4, synthetic wind load histories were generated according to EN 1991-1-4 and the Kaimal turbulence spectrum, including across-wind vortex shedding represented by a simplified lock-in model, and applied to a parametric global finite element model and refined local models of the critical details. The natural frequencies of the global model agree with those identified from geophone and fiber-optic strain measurements, and the computed bending-stress ranges follow the measured trend over the 2–14 m/s range of recorded mean wind velocities. Fatigue damage was evaluated from rainflow-counted stress ranges with the Palmgren–Miner rule and the S–N curve of EN 1993-1-9. For the assessed weld detail the damage is D = 0.081 for a 50-year reference period and 0.060 over the 37 years of service to date, dominated by across-wind oscillations in the second-mode lock-in range at 7–9 m/s. The main limitations are the simplified treatment of lock-in without aerodynamic damping, the assumed structural damping and weld detail category, and the single meteorological record used for the wind exposure; their influence on the result is discussed. The procedure provides a practical, measurement-supported basis for the fatigue assessment of historical steel towers.