Numerical study on the mitigation of rain-wind induced vibrations of stay cables with dampers

Although the underlying mechanism of rain-wind induced vibrations (RWIVs) of stay cables has not been fully understood, some countermeasures have been successfully applied to mitigating this kind of vibration. Among these, installing dampers near the bridge deck was widely adopted, and several field observations have shown its effectiveness. In this study, the effectiveness of dampers to RWIVs of stay cables is numerically investigated comprehensively by means of finite difference method (FDM). Based on the free vibration analysis of a taut string, it is found that the 3-points triangle scheme, which can be easily implemented in FDM, can offer an excellent approximation of the concentrated damping coefficient (expressed as a Dirac delta function) at the location where the damper is installed. Then, free vibration analysis of a 3-D continuous stay cable attached with two dampers is carried out to study the relationship of modal damping ratio and damping coefficient of the dampers. The effects of orientation of the dampers and cable sag on the modal damping ratio are investigated in detail. Finally, the RWIV response of a 3-D continuous stay cable attached with two dampers is examined. The results indicate that 0.5% of damping ratio is sufficient to reduce the RWIV vibration of the Cable A20 on the No.2 Nanjing Bridge over Yangtze River.