On wind–rain induced vibration of cables of cable-stayed bridges based on quasi-steady assumption

Abstract

Wind–rain induced vibration of cables of cable-stayed bridges is presently a problem of great concern. Similar to the classical galloping theory, this paper adopts quasi-steady assumption to study wind–rain induced vibration of cables. A wind tunnel test was first made to measure wind pressures and thus wind forces acting on a 3-D cable model and the upper artificial rivulet model. A new theoretical model for instability of a 2-D sectional rigid model with a moving artificial rivulet is then established and the instability criterion is proposed. The instability criterion is verified through wind tunnel test on a 2-D rigid sectional cable model with a moving artificial rivulet. Finally, theoretical models of wind–rain induced vibration of 3-D sectional cables and 3-D continuous cables are, respectively, developed based on the measured mean wind forces mentioned above, and the vibration characteristics are investigated as well as an explanation of the mechanism of wind–rain induced vibration of stay cables is made.