Vibration Mitigation via Tuned Mass Damper for Adjacent Stay Cables Interconnected with Rigid Cross-Tie

Abstract

The characteristics of low damping and closely spaced natural frequencies make stay cables susceptible to wind-induced vibrations. This work proposed a novel damping device consisting of tuned mass damper (TMD) and rigid cross-tie (RCT) to mitigate the vibration of stay cables effectively. Two adjacent stay cables interconnected with RCTs can provide installation locations for TMDs, thus making the novel TMD-RCT control system feasible. Experimental control tests were carried out on a two-cable model of adjacent stay cables built in laboratory, where one TMD was designed based on the fundamental vibration mode of the stay cable. The effects of CT stiffness, number of RCTs, mass ratio, and installation position on the vibration reduction effect of the device were studied. To validate the efficacy of the proposed TMD-RCT device in vibration mitigation of stay cables under different loading cases, simulation tests and corresponding control performance evaluation were conducted.