A Field Investigation on Vortex-Induced Vibrations of Stay Cables in a Cable-Stayed Bridge

Abstract

A field study was conducted to identify the vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) of stay cables in a cable-stayed bridge. A full-scale health-monitoring system was established to observe the wind effects of the selected cables. The vibration amplitudes in the twenty selected stay cables were first studied. The results indicate that only cable CAC20 has large amplitudes with a multimode and high-frequency vibration in the investigated period. The correlation between the wind and cable vibration was subsequently investigated. The large vibration amplitudes are primarily located in the mean speed scope of 4 to 6 m/s, simultaneously close to the reduced velocity of five when the wind was almost perpendicular to the bridge axis and had a smaller turbulence intensity. Moreover, the relationship between the maximum vibration amplitude with the mean wind speed was fitted by a function that was validated by the measured data. Finally, an estimation method was presented to predict the participative vibration modes that would happen in the VIVs of the stay cables, according to the known wind and cable parameters. The measured cable vibrations were employed to validate this estimation method. The results indicate the estimated vibration modes are close to the measured vibration modes.