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Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
| REPORT |
| This report is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information |
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| Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-21-074 Date: August 2021 |
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-21-074 Date: August 2021 |
PDF Version (11.7 MB)
Cable-stayed bridge configurations have become more common over the past several decades for bridges in the medium- to long-span range. In some cases, serviceability problems involving large amplitude vibrations of stay cables under certain wind and wind-rain conditions have been observed. This study was conducted in response to State transportation departments' interest in developing improved design guidance for mitigation of excessive cable vibrations on cable-stayed bridges. The study included wind tunnel testing of bridge cable models having various cross-sectional shapes to evaluate the influence of cable roundness on cable aerodynamic behavior. The results of this study will be made available to the Post-Tensioning Institute's DC-45 Cable-Stayed Bridge Committee for consideration during their periodic updates of its publication, Recommendations for Stay Cable Design, Testing and Installation.
This report will be of interest to bridge engineers, wind engineers, and consultants involved in the design of cable-stayed bridges. It is the sixth in a series of reports addressing the subject of aerodynamic stability of bridge stay cables.
Cheryl Allen Richter, P.E., Ph.D.
Director, Office of Infrastructure
Research and Development
Notice
This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document.
The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers' names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document.
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Technical Report Documentation Page
| 1. Report No.
FHWA-HRT-21-074 |
2. Government Accession No. | 3. Recipient's Catalog No. | ||
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| 4. Title and Subtitle
Wind-Tunnel Investigations of the Aerodynamics of Bridge Stay Cable Cross-Sectional Shapes |
5. Report Date
August 2021 |
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| 6. Performing Organization Code |
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| 7. Author(s)
Heidi Christiansen and Guy L. Larose |
8. Performing Organization Report No. LTR-AL-2016-0001 |
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| 9. Performing Organization Name and Address
National Research Council of Canada (NRC) |
10. Work Unit No. | |||
| 11. Contract or Grant No.
DTFH61-13-D-00011 |
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| 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address
Office of Infrastructure R&D |
13. Type of Report and Period Covered
Laboratory Report; |
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| 14. Sponsoring Agency Code
HRDI-40 |
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| 15. Supplementary Notes
The Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) was Harold R. Bosch (HRDI-40). |
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| 16. Abstract
Experiments on stationary sectional models of scaled replica of bridge stay cables were carried out in a 2-by 3-m wind tunnel. The cross-sectional shapes of the cable models were obtained from direct measurements of stay cables for bridges in service. The purpose of the experiments was to establish a relationship between the level of eccentricity and surface irregularities of the cross-sectional shapes of stay cables and their propensity to experience wind-induced vibrations. The experiments confirmed that the aerodynamics of the stay cables are highly sensitive to their cross-sectional shapes. A small deviation from the mean curvature had an important influence on the aerodynamic force coefficients, in particular the mean across-wind force coefficients in the critical Reynolds number regime. Based on a quasi-steady analysis of the experimental results, negative aerodynamic damping in excess of 1 percent of critical could be predicted, confirming the propensity of stay cables to gallop for certain orientations to the flow, Reynolds numbers, and cross-sectional irregularities. Because of these experiments, researchers concluded that changes in across-wind forces as a function of angle of attack and Reynolds numbers could be the main contributors to anticipated wind-induced vibrations. Finally, this report discusses how such critical angles can be identified. |
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| 17. Key Words
CCable-stayed bridges; cables; vibrations; HDPE; pipe roundness; helical fillets; hazard mitigation; wind tunnel testing; galloping |
18. Distribution Statement
No restrictions. This document is available through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. |
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| 19. Security Classification (of this report) Unclassified |
20. Security Classification (of this page) Unclassified |
21. No. of Pages
114 |
22. Price
N/A |
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| Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) | Reproduction of completed page authorized |
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