CHAPTER 1

Introduction
1.1 The Problem of Stay-Cable Vibration
As is now quite well known and documented, cable-stayed bridges around the world have commonly exhibited excessive and unanticipated vibrations of the main stays, often associated with the simultaneous occurrence of wind and rain (e.g., Matsumoto et al. 1992). These large-amplitude vibrations are of concern because they induce undue stresses in the stay cables, particularly in the vicinity of the anchorages, potentially leading to fatigue fractures of internal wire strands (e.g., Raoof 1992). The problem is widespread because cable-stayed bridges have been built with increasing frequency in recent decades, largely because of their economy in the medium-span range (Leonhardt and Zellner 1991) and their structural elegance (Billington and Deodatis 1991). As such vibrations continue to be reported, their mitigation has become a significant consideration in cable-stayed bridge design and for retrofit of existing structures (e.g., Poston 1998). Until fully resolved, this issue potentially threatens the widespread acceptance of this attractive and economical form of bridge structure. Stay cables have very low levels of inherent mechanical damping, rendering them susceptible to multiple types of excitation (Yamaguchi and Fujino 1998), and the mechanisms associated with the observed large-amplitude vibrations are still not fully understood. The large-amplitude vibrations are usually associated with the simultaneous occurrence of wind and rain, and wind tunnel studies (e.g., Hikami and Shiraishi 1988;

Matsomoto et al. 1992; Verweibe 1998) have suggested that water rivulets forming on the stay cable during rain play an important role in rendering the cable aerodynamically unstable. In some instances, vibrations of moderate-to-large amplitude have also been observed without rain. Aerodynamic excitation mechanisms emphasizing the inherent instability of an inclined cable in wind have been proposed to account for these vibrations (e.g., Matsumoto et al. 1990; Matsumoto et al. 1995). Analytical and numerical models have also suggested that vibrations of the bridge deck, or towers, or both, may contribute significantly to cable vibrations (e.g., Abdel-Ghaffar and Khalifa 1991; Pinto da Costa et al. 1996). Supporting this notion, Pacheco and Fujino (1993) observed that moderateamplitude vibrations of the stays on a cable-stayed pedestrian bridge in Japan were associated with pedestrian-induced vibrations of the bridge deck. relative importance of these proposed excitation In evaluating the and making

mechanisms

recommendations for the design of vibration mitigation systems, it is important to have a comprehensive characterization of the vibrations actually occurring in the field.

1.2 Methods of Vibration Mitigation

Three primary mitigation strategies have been employed in suppressing stay cable vibrations: aerodynamic treatment of the stay surface (e.g., a band wound helically around the cable), cable restrainers tied between the stays (and in some cases to the deck), and dampers attached near the ends of the cables. On some bridges, more than one method has been employed; e.g., all three types of countermeasures were installed on the Pont de Normandie in France (Fuzier and Stubler 1994). Wind tunnel studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of cable surface treatment in counteracting rain-wind induced vibrations (e.g., Saito et al. 1994; Flamand 1995). 2 However, it is unclear

whether aerodynamic surface treatment would be effective at counteracting all the potential types of excitation mentioned above, particularly vibrations induced by motions of the bridge deck or towers. Analytical and numerical modeling has shown that

restrainers tied between stays can be effective in distributing vibration energy over the individual cables, but the cross-ties themselves may be subject to large stresses, and therefore, Ehsan and Scanlan (1989) recommend that a dynamic analysis of the cable network should be conducted prior to design. However, restrainers tied between stays are often avoided because they have been considered to detract from the aesthetic appeal of the bridge (Pacheco et al. 1993). Dampers can potentially be attached unobtrusively near the stay anchorage at the deck or tower, and thus detract minimally from the aesthetics of the structure. Attached dampers render stay cables less susceptible to all types of For these

excitation by increasing the low levels of inherent mechanical damping.

reasons, dampers have had relatively widespread use, and their effectiveness in mitigating stay vibrations is widely accepted. A fundamental question in the design of dampers for stay cables is how much damping is necessary to suppress vibrations to an acceptable level. Current

recommendations for required damping levels were developed using simplified windtunnel models (Irwin 1997), and it is not clear whether these guidelines are adequate or appropriate for vibration suppression in the field. In addition, it is important to note that vibrations can occur in more than one mode, and little has been done to address the question of how much damping should be provided in each mode. The potential for widespread use of dampers also requires an improved and more complete understanding of the dynamics of cable-damper systems. In designing the

damper it is necessary to determine the damping ratios achieved in the various modes of vibration for different choices of the damper location and the damper coefficient. In the case of a linear viscous damper, the supplemental damping ratio provided in each mode can be determined from a complex eigenvalue analysis of the damped cable in free vibration. In most practical situations, the damper must be attached to the cable quite close to its end, and previous investigations have focused on the response of the system in the first few modes for a damper located near the end of the cable. However, it is important to understand both the range of applicability of these results and the behavior that may be expected outside of this range, particularly in higher modes of vibration, which can be excited by vortex-shedding. Most studies of the vibrations of a cable with attached damper have neglected the bending stiffness of the cable; however, a recent investigation (Tabatabai and Mehrabi 2000) has indicated that the bending stiffness has a significant effect for many real stay cables. It is important to develop a thorough understanding of the influence of bending stiffness on modal damping ratios, including the influence of different support conditions at the anchorages, to enable reliable predictions of the levels of supplemental damping that can be provided by an attached damper. Damper nonlinearity is another complicating factor that has not yet been investigated in detail. Even when designed to have a linear force-velocity relationship, fluid dampers unavoidably possess a friction threshold, rendering the damper performance dependent on the vibration amplitude, and it is important to investigate the consequences of this effect in the context of stay-cable vibration mitigation. It is also of interest to consider whether the linear viscous damper is the most appropriate choice for

this application. Nonlinear fluid dampers of the power-law type have found increasing application in seismic protection applications (e.g., Makris et al. 1998), and given the potential for widespread implementation of dampers for stay-cable vibration suppression, it is worthwhile to consider whether some advantage might be achieved by designing the dampers with a nonlinear force-velocity relationship.

1.3 Outline of Dissertation

Motivated by these considerations, the goal of the research presented in this dissertation is to enable designers to more rationally and effectively mitigate the problem of cable vibration on cable-stayed bridges. To achieve this goal, the research has two primary objectives. The first objective is to characterize the problematic vibrations using full-scale measurements of stay-cable vibrations. The second objective, which forms the bulk of the dissertation, is to develop a more thorough understanding of the dynamics of a stay cable with attached damper using analytical and numerical modeling. The first objective is addressed in Chapter 2, which begins with a review of previous studies of stay-cable vibrations, and presents data from a long-term program of full-scale stay-cable vibration measurements. Several distinct types of vibration observed in the measured data are discussed, and special attention is devoted to a characterization of the problematic large-amplitude rain-wind induced vibrations. Chapters 3-6 address the second objective, the development of a more thorough understanding of the dynamics of a stay-cable with attached damper. Chapter 3 presents the simplest model of the system: a taut string with a linear viscous damper attached. An analytical formulation of the free-vibration problem is used to obtain a transcendental equation for the complex eigenvalues and expressions for the complex mode shapes. 5

This formulation reveals the importance of damper-induced frequency shifts in characterizing the response of the system. New regimes of behavior are observed when these frequency shifts are large, as is the case in higher modes and for damper locations further from the end of the cable. For a damper located sufficiently near the antinode in a given mode, a regime of solutions is identified for which the damping approaches critical as the damper coefficient approaches a critical value. A regime diagram is developed to indicate the type of behavior in each mode for any given damper location. In Chapter 4 the influence of bending stiffness is considered by modeling the free vibrations of a tensioned beam with attached damper; the problem is formulated using the dynamic stiffness method, which can readily accommodate differing boundary conditions. The solution characteristics are explored over a wide range of the bending stiffness parameter = TL2 / EI , from = 0 , corresponding to a beam without tension, to large values of , approaching the taut-string model. As in the case of the taut string, damper-induced frequency shifts are important in characterizing the response of the system. When bending effects become appreciable, it is observed that the nature of the boundary conditions has a significant influence on the solution characteristics. For

damper locations near the end of the cable, significantly higher damping ratios can be achieved in the case of pinned-pinned supports than in the case of fixed-fixed supports. In Chapter 5, vibrations of a taut string with a nonlinear damper are considered by extending the formulation developed in Chapter 3 using an equivalent linear solution. Two types of nonlinear dampers are considered: a power-law damper, and a viscous damper with a friction threshold. Relevant nondimensional parameter groupings are identified in each case, and asymptotic approximate solutions for the amplitude6

dependent damping ratios are obtained for the case of small damper-induced frequency shifts. This formulation yields insights into the dependence of nonlinear damper

performance on mode number and amplitude of oscillation, suggesting potential advantages that may be offered by a nonlinear damper over a traditional linear damper. In Chapter 6, a numerical formulation is presented for simulation of the vibrations of a taut string with a nonlinear damper. The formulation is developed using Galerkins method, with specially chosen shape functions that are shown to give accurate results for the linear damper. Amplitude-dependent damping ratios are estimated from time

histories of decaying free-vibration, and these results are compared with the equivalent linear solution in Chapter 5 for the power-law damper and the viscous damper with friction threshold. In Chapter 7, field measurements of the vibrations of a stay cable with attached damper are presented. The damper performance is evaluated by comparing vibration amplitudes before and after damper installation and through more detailed analysis of selected records under different excitation conditions. Comparison is made between the measured damper-induced frequency shifts and the theoretical predictions from Chapter 3. A dramatic reduction in vibration amplitudes after damper installation is observed. Finally, in Chapter 8 conclusions from the research are presented, and directions for future research in this area are suggested.

1.4 Broader Implications of the Present Study

Supplemental dampers are being implemented more and more commonly in many types of structures for seismic protection and vibration suppression (e.g., Makris et al. 1998); however, in many cases these structures are modeled using classical normal 7

modes. Hanson and Soong (2001) present guidelines for the seismic design of structures with supplemental energy dissipation devices, noting that the mode shapes can be complex for structures in which nonproportional damping is significant, but indicating that this effect is usually not important. The taut cable with attached damper, considered in this study, represents a simple and practical example of a system for which the notion of complex modes of vibration is essential for accurately modeling the dynamics of the system. Because the damper is concentrated at a particular location, rather than

distributed along the structure, the complexity of the modes is significant in this case, and damper-induced frequency shifts are important in characterizing the response of the system. The results of this investigation suggest that for other types of structures in which dampers are concentrated at particular locations, rather than evenly distributed, unusual and complicated dynamic characteristics may be expected if these structures were modeled accurately using complex modes.