Vol. 17 NO.2 Journal 0/ Southwest University (English Edition) Apr.

2009
Article ID: 1005-2429(2009)02-0109-04
Effects of Tuned Mass Damper on Wind-Induced Vibration of
Free Standing Pylon by Wind Tunnel Test
W ANG Zhong-wen 1 *, ZHU Hong-ping 1 , MA Cun-ming
1. School 0/ Civil Engineering and Mechanics , Huazhong University 0/ Science Technology , Wuhan China
2. Research Center /or Wind Southwest University , Chengdu China
Abstract
In order the effects of tuned rnass darnpers (TMDs) on wind actions , an aeroelastic rnodel with a scale of 1: 60 was
constructed. Tests were in an atrnospheric boundary layer wind tunnel to buffeting response of the pylon
with a TMD by a wire rope instead of a spring. The rnodel was tested under different levels of and
nurnerical results with the TMD in the optirnal condition , the buffeting reduced by 47%.
Key words Buffeting response; Tuned rnass darnper; Wind tunnel test; Free standing pylon
Introduction
Since the last decade , light -weight , high-
strength materials have been widely used in the con-
struction of long-span cable-stayed bridges. As the
span increases , the height and flexibility of pylons in-
crease , which makes the structures susceptible to
wind-induced vibration. Tuned mass damper (TMD)
that works as a vibration absorber is a mass spring
dashpot system. A lot of studies[l-5] were performed
to explore mechanisms of Kawaguchi et la. [6]
conducted time-domain analyses to evaluate the wind-
inducedvibration of a tall building with a TMD, and
found that the TMD balanced more accelerations than
displacements of the building. A series of frequency-
domain analytical approaches[7,8] were suggested to
Received Nov. 15 , 2008; revision accepted Dec. 16 , 2008
Foundation item The National Natural Science Foundation
of China (Nos. 50808148 and 90815016)
Biography W ANG Zhong-wen PhD candidate.
His research interest is in bridge engineering
* Corresponding author. Tel.: + 86-13312892305; E-rnail:
wangzhongwen@vip.163. corn
examine the performance of TMDs. These methods
revealed that a TMD with larger mass is more effec-
tive in suppressing structural responses.
In this paper , to exarnine the aerodynarnic be-
havior of free pylons at Yamen Bridge located in
Jiangmen , China , wind tunnel tests were conducted.
Excessive buffeting responses of the pylons during the
construction stage were observed , and a of a
pendulum type was designed to reduce wind-induced
vibrations.
1 Theoretical
Fig. 1 shows the dynamic model of a pylon-TMD
svstem. where m_. k_. X_. and c are the eauivalent J ........--......., ......-... -- ....p , ....p , ...."'p , .............- ..... p 1
mass , stiffness , displacement and damping of the py-
lons , respectively; m
s
,

and c s are the inertial

mass , stiffness , displacement , and damping of the
TMD, respectivey.
Fig. 1 Dynal1c rnodel of a pylon-TMD systern
lournal of Southwest University (English Edition)
The control differential equations of the equiva-
110
ExperimentaI 2
lent two-DOF system are
O rCp +cs
11..1 + 1
+

ps
x.x
l i
es
-c
nr
mo
To ensure dynamic between the aero-
elastic model and the prototype , the laws of dynamic
similarity must be followed , including aeroelastic simi-
larity , similarity of wind flow , and match of scale and
angle. Aeroelastic similarity is by physical
properties such as the internal friction of structures ,
and density and viscosity of air , which is expressed by
five dimensionless quantities , i. e. , Reynolds number ,
Froude number , density ratio , Cauchy number , and
critical damping ratio. In terms of the Reynolds num-
ber , it is impossible to realize full-scale match. For the
sharp edge of pylon sections , since the distortion of
Reynolds number by several orders of magnitude does
not appreciably alter the flow patterns , the model is
still capable of well representing full-scale behavior.
The rest must be matched between the mod-
el and the full-scale pylon.
Similitude principles 2.1

= ,
[kp+fs
-k
where
Cp C
s


f( t) is the load acting on m
p
' such as the wind load;
If the power spectral density (PSD) of f( t) , S ff' fol-
lows a uniform distribution , like random white noise ,
the PSD of the displacement response is given by
Sm
p
= 1 Hll 1
2
Sff'
where Hll is frequency response
frequency.
The root mean square (RMS) of displacement
(2)
Model building and instrumentation
Yamen Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge with a
main span of 338 m, and its two pylons are 125 m
deck is supported by a single plane of ca-
bles. The designed wind velocity at deck level is about
Fig.2 shows the shape of the pylons.
2.2
response is given by
1 HIJ 1
2
112 =
(50 ( 1 HIJ

where So is the PSD of white noise. For an equivalent
linear single DOF system, there is
. +2fM-. +d
X_
mp
where (e is the critical damping ratio of the equivalent
system. According to the random vibration
the RMS of displacement response of mp is ca1culated

.P
(3)
(4)

The pylons of Yamen bridge (unit: m) Fig.2

by
7rS
o


q
mp
Substituting Eq. (5) into Eq. (3) , we have

e - 2
J
!m! ( I H
JJ
1
2

Note that ?e is larger than ?p due to auxi1iary
damping. Thus , the pylon vibration is reduced. To
obtain the displacement response of mp under the wind
turbulence , one needs to integrate Eq. (1) with buf-
feting load in time domain.
(5)
(6)
A structural metal spine was made to simulate the
Onto the spine are mounted correct scaled rigidities.
Zhong-wen et al. / Effects 0/ Tuned Mass Damper on Wind-/nduced Vibration 0/ . . .
small segments of wood to simulate the of
the pylons. A displacement transducer was fixed on
top of the model. The scaled TMD system is
shown in Fig. 3. It weighs O. 064 34 kg , and the ratio
of the scaled TMD mass to the scaled effective pylon
mass is o. 015 in the first fundamental transversal
mode. The vibration frequency of the was set as
2. 496 Hz , of the scaled pylons is
2.534 Hz.
Pylon
Spring vane
Mass
Viscous fluid
Fig.3 A model
6.0
5.8
5.6
5.4
b? 5.0
4.8
4.6
4.4
0.00 0.04 0.08
4
0.12 0.1 6
( a) White noise
111
2. 3 Wind tunnel test
Tests were carried out in an open circuit wind
tunnel. The test section is 3. 0 m wide , 3. 6 m high
and 8 m long. The turbulent layer was de-
veloped over the upstream fetch with cubic roughness
elements randomly distributed on the tunnel floor.
Four triangular spires as high as 3 m at the windward
edge were used to augment the thickness of boundary
layer. The wind velocity was measured by DANTEC
line hot-wire anemometer. By using spires and
roughness elements , we obtained wind velocity profile
of type 1 ground roughness[8]. The turbulence intensi-
ty is about 10% .
curves pylon-TMD system excited
by white noise and Sirniu turbulence are shown in
Fig.4. The bottom of the curves corresponds to the
maximum reduction of the pylon vibration and the op-
timal damping of the TMD. According to Fig. 4 , the
optimal damping ratio of the is about O. 06.
nvnu nUAU

-
-
J
-
-
-
22
0.00 0.04 0.08
4
0.12 0.16
Fig. 4 RMS of excited by white noise and Simiu turbulence spectrum
( b) Simiu turbulence
To check the efficiency of the we com-
pared the peak transversal displacements induced by
wind in the case of TMD and no TMD (see
Table 1). The critical damping ratio of the pylon
model was set as O. 02 , and the damping ratio of the
was the optimum value. The yaw angles of
wind were chosen

45
0
, and 90
0
(90
0

direction along bridge longitudinal axis). The mean
wind velocity measured by the hot-wire anemometer
varied from 1. 265 to 9.334 m1s , which is equivalent
to the velocity variation from 9.8 to 72.3 m1s for the
full scale free standing pylon. It can be seen from
Table 1 that the TMD can effectively reduce the dis-
placement of pylon.
The results of numerical simulation are listed in
Table 2. It is indicated that the reduction efficiency
increases as the damping of the pylons decreases.
112 ]olimal f Suthwest University (Englsh Edilion)
Table 1 Peak transversal displacement on the top of the pylons
Wind velocity/



(m . S-I)
A/mrn B/mrn c/% A/mrn B/mrn c/% A/mrn B/mm c/%
9.8 6.0 5.2 1.3.3 3.8 3.8 0.0 13.3 9.8 26.3
16.5 18.5 13.0 29.7 8.5 7.7 9.4 68.9 48.8 29.2
23.1 30.8 24.7 19.8 15.0 14.4 4.0 119.69 91. 8 23.3
31. 5 51. 6 37.8 26.7 28.2 23.6 16.3 146.99 97.2 33.9
38.8 71. 9 51. 4 28.5 36.8 29.8 19.0 154.0 113.1 26.6
45.4 101.8 67.1 34.1 55.0 45.0 18.2 177.6 124.9 29.7
54.5 121. 0 86.9 28.2 77. 0 59.0 23.4 202.9 131.2 35.4
62.6 155.3 114.0 26.6 93.6 71. 9 23.2 262.4 149.9 42.9
68.5 203.7 130.5 35.9 110.4 94.3 14.6 267.8 193.5 27.7
72.3 150.8 125.4 103.7 17.3 291. 7 216.2 25.9
Note: A denotes the without B denotes the displacement with TMD; C= (A -B)/A x 100%.
3
Table 2 Efficiency of with different dampings

A/mrn
0.01 47.8
0.02 34.5
Conclusions
B/mm
25.4
23.6
C/%
47
32
( 1) The TMD can reduce the buffeting response
of the free standing pylon effectively and its efficiency
increases as the damping ratio of the pylons decrea-
ses. When the damping ratio of the pylon was set to
0.02 , the RMS of displacement response was reduced
by about 32 %. When the damping ratio was set to
0.01 , the RMS of response was reduced by about
47%.
( 2) In wind tl.l nnel tests , the TMD reduced the
peak transversal displacement of the pylons by about
4% to 43% under different wind velocities.
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( Editor: ZHOU Yao)