Aerodynamic control of bridge cables through shape modification: A preliminary study

This paper examines the viability of modifying bridge cable shape and surface for the purpose of controlling wind-induced vibrations. To this end, an extensive wind-tunnel test campaign was carried out on various cable shapes about the critical Reynolds number region. Cable shapes were chosen to passively modify the flow in a particular manner. Tested shapes included those which have some form of waviness, faceting and shrouding. Section models were tested using a static inclined rig, allowing them to be installed at yawed cable-wind angles for both smooth and turbulent flow conditions. The aerodynamic damping of the tested cylinders is evaluated by applying both 1- and 2-dof quasi-steady aerodynamic instability models. This allows for the prediction of regions of aerodynamic instability, as a function of flow angle and Reynolds number. Whilst the plain, wavy and faceted cylinders are predicted to suffer from either dry inclined galloping, “drag crisis” or Den Hartog galloping, the shrouded cylinder is found to be stable for all angles of attack, albeit with an increase in drag at typical design wind velocities. Finally, turbulent flow is found to introduce an increased amount of aerodynamic damping mainly by providing a more constant lift force over tested Reynolds numbers.     

On the quasi-steady analysis of one-degree-of-freedom galloping with combined translational and rotational effects

Galloping is the low-frequency, self-excited oscillation of an elastic structure in a wind field. Its analysis is commonly based on a quasi-steady aerodynamic analysis, in which the instantaneous wind forces are derived from force data obtained in static wind tunnel tests. For the galloping of a rigid prismatic beam the validity of the quasi-steady assumption is critically assessed for the case that rotational effects must be included in the aerodynamics. An oscillator structure with one (torsional) degree of freedom is proposed which allows a reliable modelling. Its effective motion can be considered as being composed of a translation with a coupled rotation of the cross section, and can be regarded as a natural extension of pure translational galloping. The analysis reveals that the resulting aerodynamic damping is determined by the sectional aerodynamic normal force coefficient alone. An aerodynamic damping coefficient is defined that can be expressed uniquely in terms of an aerodynamic amplitude, allowing a normalization of the galloping curve. This result can be used to analyze both purely translational and combined galloping, which are found to differ only by the way the structural amplitude (displacement) is related to the aerodynamic amplitude. An interesting result is that for large wind speeds rotational galloping displays an aerodynamic limit, in contrast to translation galloping where the limit-cycle amplitude increases linearly with wind speed. Results obtained from wind tunnel experiments confirm the major findings of the analysis.     

Experimental investigation of wind-induced vibrations of main cables for suspension bridges in construction phases

The main cables of suspension bridges show a changing cross-sectional shape with the evolution of construction phases, and they may suffer from severe wind-induced vibrations at certain conditions. The primary objective of this research was to examine the aerodynamic performance of the main cable in construction phases and to develop appropriate countermeasures to eliminate the potential wind-induced vibrations. Two cross-sections with different shapes of a main cable were chosen, and a series of wind tunnel tests were performed in a reduced wind velocity range of 32–366 using elastically mounted sectional models. Galloping occurred for the two cross-sections under certain wind incidence angles when a critical velocity was reached. No obvious hysteresis phenomenon of galloping was observed in the tests. The steady amplitude of galloping increased linearly with wind velocity and the increasing rate almost kept constant for different structural damping ratios. The aerodynamic nonlinearity, rather than the structural damping nonlinearity, is the main source leading to the limited amplitude oscillation. An empirical expression of galloping amplitudes for the two cross-sections was derived based on the test data. Meanwhile, the critical wind velocity was studied in a Scruton (Sc) number range of 108–4196 (as varied by changing the initial structural damping ratio between 0.093% and 3.62%). Results showed that the Den Hartog criterion was applicable to forecast the possibility of galloping, but not able to estimate the critical wind velocity for the main cable. Linear fitting method can be used to predict the critical velocity based on the experimental data. Finally, three vibration mitigation measures were studied, and a combination of structural and aerodynamic measures was recommended for galloping mitigation of main cables.     

Experimental and theoretical investigation of galloping of transversely inclined slender prisms

Galloping is characterized by large and periodical oscillations which may lead to collapse of slender structures. This study is the first attempt of a comprehensive experimental and theoretical investigation of galloping of transversely inclined prisms. A modified quasi-steady model is proposed with a constant term to estimate the galloping of a transversely inclined prism, which is later experimentally investigated by conducting a static Synchronous Multi-Pressure Sensing System (SMPSS) test and an aeroelastic test in a boundary layer wind tunnel. The galloping responses of the prisms were measured in the aeroelastic test, while the aerodynamic force coefficients were determined from the SMPSS test. These experimental results were subsequently utilized to validate the quasi-steady model. Based on the proposed model, the galloping responses of the prisms were predicted and compared with the experimental results. The experimentally measured and theoretically predicted galloping responses are discussed with respect to aerodynamic damping ratios, onset galloping wind speeds, distributed pressure coefficients, point pressure spectra and vortex shedding frequencies. Interesting findings are summarized.     

AERODYNAMIC STIFFNESS AND DAMPING EFFECTS IN THE ROTATIONAL GALLOPING OF A RECTANGULAR CROSS-SECTION

The galloping oscillation with a single rotational degree of freedom is investigated for a prismatic beam with a rectangular cross-section. For this particular geometric configuration, the effect of the unsteady aerodynamic forces can be understood as a combination of aerodynamic stiffness and damping terms, with the latter being the most relevant for the instability behaviour. A theoretical prediction of both these effects is made for this type of galloping behaviour, based on a quasi-steady aerodynamic approach. Comparison to experimental results obtained in wind tunnel experiments reveals significant shortcomings of the quasi-steady approach in predicting, in particular, the damping effect. For the stiffness effect, the agreement is much better.     

Critical Reynolds number and galloping instabilities: experiments on circular cylinders

The current paper considers large galloping-like vibrations of circular cylinders, generically inclined and yawed to the flow. The case of a round section prone to galloping is seemingly a paradox since rotational symmetry (or close to it) and classical galloping are apparently contradictory. Still there seems to be a range of wind speeds far from those for typical Kármán vortex shedding resonance where such a phenomenon does occur. Experimental results from both static and dynamic large-scale rigid cable models, presented here, show that this range coincides with the critical Reynolds number regime, where notable symmetry-breaking characteristics such as nonzero mean lift emerge. It is shown that a fundamental difference between the inclined and non-inclined cylinder aerodynamics may exist accommodating different pressure distributions and different resulting dynamic behaviours. Unsteady pressure measurements showing avalanche-like “jumps” and vortex dislocations building between cell structures in the cylinder spanwise direction are conjectured to be a key element in the unstable behaviour experienced.     

On the aerodynamic characteristics of inclined stay cable sheaths in the critical flow regime

This paper studies the presence of the bistable flow activity around inclined cable models. It presents results from wind tunnel test on static original High-Density Polyethylene cable covers in a range of Reynolds numbers from the subcritical to the critical regime, inclined at angles of 90°(vertical), 60°and 45°. It has already been shown that, in the critical regime, turbulent transition in the boundary layers around a circular cylinder exhibits bistable behavior at zero inclination, i.e. the boundary layer on either side is intermittently turbulent or laminar, leading to intermittent asymmetry of the flow and resulting aerodynamic loads. The present wind tunnel tests consist in measuring the pressure patterns around inclined circular cylinders using numerous pressure taps. Bifurcation diagrams are created in order to quantify the occurrence of bistability and Proper Orthogonal Decomposition is used to identify the geometrical flow modes that are governed by the bistability. The results show that the bistable phenomenon is only identified in the Reynolds number range corresponding to the first transition between the TrBL0 and TrBL1 regimes. Furthermore, the inclination angle seems to have a significant impact on the energy of the flow mode related to unsteady asymmetric reattachment. This paper also treats the potential sensitivity of the aerodynamic drag and lift forces to the circularity defect of the covers and presents the positive impact of the helical fillet on controlling the bistable activity at a critical inclination angle of 60°.     

Interference of vortex-induced vibration and transverse galloping for a rectangular cylinder

The phenomenon of interference between vortex-induced vibration (VIV) and galloping in the transverse degree of freedom was studied in the wind tunnel in the case of a spring-mounted slender rectangular cylinder with a side ratio of 1.5 having the short side perpendicular to the flow. The tests were carried out in a wide Scruton number range, starting from low values and increasing it in small steps by using eddy-current viscous dampers. This study helped understanding the dynamics of the interaction between the two excitation mechanisms and clearly highlighted the transition through four regimes of VIV-galloping interference. It was found that a high value of the mass-damping parameter is required to decouple the ranges of excitation of vortex-induced vibration and galloping completely, and for the quasi-steady theory to predict the galloping critical wind speed correctly. This conclusion is also relevant from the engineering point of view, as it means that structures and structural elements with ordinary mass-damping properties can exhibit sustained vibrations in flow speed ranges where no excitation is predicted by classical theories of vortex-induced vibration and galloping. Although most of the experimental tests were conducted in smooth flow at zero angle of attack, the paper also discusses the sensitivity of the results to a small variation of the mean flow incidence and to the presence of a low-intensity free-stream turbulence.     

A quasi-steady 3 degree-of-freedom model for the determination of the onset of bluff body galloping instability

In this paper, a quasi-steady three degree-of-freedom (3-dof) flow-induced galloping instability model for bluff-bodies is proposed. The proposed model can be applied generally for the prediction of onset of galloping instability due to negative aerodynamic damping of any prismatic compact bluff body in a fluidic medium. The three degrees of freedom refer to the bluff body's two orthogonal displacements perpendicular to its length axis and the rotation about its length axis. The model incorporates inertial coupling between the three degrees of freedom and is capable of estimating the onset of galloping instability due changes in drag, lift and moment, assuming that the bluff body is subject to uniform flow and motion. The changes may be a function of wind angle of attack (α) perpendicular to bluff body's length axis, Reynolds number and a skew wind angle (?) in relation to the length axis of the bluff body. An analytical solution of the instability criterion is obtained by applying the Routh-Hurwitz criterion.     

Rain-wind-induced vibrations of a simple oscillator

In this paper a relatively simple mechanical oscillator which may be used to study rain-wind-induced vibrations of stay cables of cable-stayed bridges is considered. In recent publications, mention is made of vibrations of (inclined) stay cables which are excited by a wind field containing rain drops. The rain drops that hit the cables generate a rivulet on the surface of the cable. The presence of flowing water on the cable changes the cross section of the cable experienced by the wind field. A symmetric flow pattern around the cable with circular cross section may become asymmetric due to the presence of the rivulet and may consequently induce a lift force as a mechanism for vibration. During the motion of the cable the position of rivulet(s) may vary as the motion of the cable induces an additional varying aerodynamic force perpendicular to the direction of the wind field. It seems not too easy to model this phenomenon, several author state that there is no model available yet.The idea to model this problem is to consider a horizontal cylinder supported by springs in such a way that only one degree of freedom, i.e. vertical vibration is possible. We consider a ridge on the surface of the cylinder parallel to the axis of the cylinder. Additionally, let the cylinder with ridge be able to oscillate, with small amplitude, around the axis such that the oscillations are excited by an external force.It may be clear that the small amplitude oscillations of the cylinder and hence of the ridge induce a varying lift and drag force. In this approach it is assumed that the motion of the ridge models the dynamics of the rivulet(s) on the cable. By using a quasi-steady approach to model the aerodynamic forces, one arrives at a non-linear second-order equation displaying three different kinds of excitation mechanisms: self-excitation, parametric excitation and ordinary forcing. The first results of the analysis of the equation of motion show that even in a linear approximation for certain values of the parameters involved, stable periodic motions are possible. In the relevant cases where in linear approximation unstable periodic motions are found, results of an analysis of the non-linear equation are presented.     

Aerodynamic characteristics of an inclined and yawed circular cylinder with artificial rivulet

Stay cables of cable-stayed bridges often experience vibrations with large amplitudes induced by wind or jointly by both wind and rain. To understand the aerodynamic characteristics of the stay cables and excitation mechanics of rain–wind-induced vibration (RWIV), an inclined and yawed circular cylinder with and without an artificial upper rivulet is studied through a series of wind tunnel tests. The impacts of upper rivulet and axial flow on the aerodynamics of the cylinder are investigated. It is found that for an inclined and yawed cylinder without rivulet there exists a non-zero lift force at large wind angle. Furthermore, the wind pressures and aerodynamic forces acting on both the cylinder and the upper rivulet are obtained, which can be used to develop more rational theoretical models for RWIV of stay cables. Results show that the upper rivulet can both enhance and depress Karman vortex shedding depending on the position of the rivulet. As a result, dramatic variations of the aerodynamic forces acting on the cylinder and the rivulet will occur, which may eventually result in RWIV. Also axial flow may have a noticeable influence on the aerodynamic characteristics of the inclined and yawed cylinder. And the presence of the rivulet can enhance such influence from the axial flow.     

A numerical and experimental hybrid approach for the investigation of aerodynamic forces on stay cables suffering from rain-wind induced vibration

The aerodynamic forces on a stay cable under a rain-wind induced vibration (RWIV) are difficult to measure directly in a wind tunnel test. This paper presents a hybrid approach that combines an experiment with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for the investigation on aerodynamic forces of a stay cable under a RWIV. The stay cable and flow field were considered as two substructures of the system. The oscillation of the stay cable was first measured by using a wind tunnel test of a RWIV under an artificial rainfall condition. The oscillation of the cable was treated as a previously known moving boundary condition and applied to the flow field. Only the flow field with the known moving cable boundary was then numerically simulated by using a CFD method (such as Fluent 6.3). The transient aerodynamic forces of the stay cable with a predetermined cable oscillation were obtained from numerical calculations. The characteristics of the aerodynamic forces in the time domain and frequency domain were then analysed for various cases. To verify the feasibility and accuracy of the proposed hybrid approach, the transient aerodynamic forces were applied to a single-degree-of-freedom model (SDOF) of the stay cable to calculate the RWIV of the cable. A comparison was performed between the oscillation responses of the stay cable obtained from the calculated (SDOF model) and experimental results, and the results indicate that the hybrid approach accurately simulates the transient aerodynamic forces of the stay cable. The equivalent damping ratios induced by the aerodynamic forces were obtained for various wind speeds. Furthermore, a nonlinear model of the aerodynamic force is proposed based on the calculation results, and the coefficients in the model were identified by a nonlinear least-squares technique.     

RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS OF WIND EXCITED CABLES WITH ARTIFICIAL RIVULET

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Autorotation dynamics of a low aspect-ratio rectangular prism

This paper presents two previously unreported aspects of the autorotation dynamics of low aspect ratio rectangular prisms, observed during an experimental study of the dynamics of helicopter underslung loads. Low-speed wind tunnel tests of a simplified container model free to rotate on a fixed axis demonstrated (a) that autorotation rate can lock-in to a structural mode and (b) that static hysteresis in autorotation rate can occur at low speeds. Autorotation lock-in behaves in a similar manner to vortex-shedding lock-in, suggesting that a similar feedback flow process between vortex wake dynamics and body motion is operating, and may provide a partial explanation for the complex changes in behaviour of rotating slung loads at high airspeeds. Static hysteresis at low speeds results in a bifurcation diagram for autorotation which is similar to that for cross-wind galloping of a square prism, including the effects of friction and inertia. The similarity in bifurcation behaviour seems likely to indicate similar dynamics rather than flow physics, suggesting that it may be possible to apply techniques developed to model the effect of non-linear damping characteristics in galloping to the modelling of autorotation.     

Fluid-Damping Controlled Instability in Tube Bundles Subjected to Air Cross-Flow

There are different excitation mechanisms that cause fatal damages due to undesirable vibrations in heat exchanger tube bundles subjected to cross-flow. One of them is the fluid-damping-controlled instability (galloping) that is characterised by a sudden appearance of large amplitudes of the tubes exclusively in cross-flow direction. This paper reports on investigations using an experimental set-up in a wind tunnel where the galloping mechanism in a tube bundle can be observed as an isolated phenomenon. The apparatus allows to realise several tube bundle configurations and geometry's of real heat exchangers. The position of a flexible test tube with a linear iso-viscoelastic mounting inside the tube array is variable. The test tube is equipped with dynamical pressure sensors which are placed directly under pressure holes inside the tube. For the investigation of the acting fluid forces the non-stationary pressure distribution is measured simultaneously at 30 points on the circumference in mid plane and at 15 points in line along the tube together with the tube motion. The acting fluid forces are determined by integration of the whole pressure field process. The study gives insights into the effect of the fluid-damping-controlled instability that is still not fully understood. Moreover, a flow visualization gives an impression of the mechanism at relevant Reynolds-numbers. The results show that in case of instability due to galloping the correlation length of the forces acting along the tube axis increases suddenly to large values. The fluid forces are correlated well for the whole tube when galloping is dominant. The exciting fluid forces show harmonic character and lead to a classical resonance behaviour. Instead of a simple free vibration test in vacuum or still air, which is done mostly for fluid excited structures, the damping coefficient of the oscillating system is determined under operating conditions on the basis of the measured fluid forces. A comparison of the results with those of a free vibration test in still air is shown. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Control of Wind-Induced Nonlinear Oscillations in Suspended Cables

In this paper, the along-wind and across-wind responses of suspended cables are studied. The mean wind direction is assumed to be perpendicular to the plane of the suspended cable. It is shown that the cable gallops in the across-wind direction, when the mean wind speed exceeds a critical wind speed. To control the galloping response, a vertical viscous damper, in the vertical plane of the cable, is introduced at a certain location on the cable to a near fixed platform such as a bridge deck. The efficiency of the vertical viscous damper and its location in controlling the galloping of the suspended cable is investigated.     

Wind induced deformation and vibration of a Platanus acerifolia leaf

Deformation and vibration of twig-connected single leaf in wind is investigated experimentally.Results showthat the Reynolds number based on wind speed and lengthof leaf blade is a key parameter to the aerodynamic problem.In case the front surface facing the wind and with an increase of Reynolds number,the leaf experiences static deformation,large amplitude and low frequency sway,reconfiguration to delta wing shape,flapping of tips,high frequencyvibration of whole leaf blade,recovery of delta wing shape,and twig-leaf coupling vibration.Abrupt changes from onestate to another occur at critical Reynolds numbers.In casethe back surface facing the wind,the large amplitude andlow frequency sway does not occur,the recovered delta wingshape is replaced by a conic shape,and the critical Reynoldsnumbers of vibrations are higher than the ones corresponding to the case with the front surface facing the wind.Apair of ram-horn vortex is observed behind the delta wingshaped leaf.A single vortex is found downstream of theconic shaped leaf.A lift is induced by the vortex,and thislift helps leaf to adjust position and posture,stabilize bladedistortion and reduce drag and vibration.     

Galloping instabilities of two-dimensional triangular cross-section bodies

Galloping is a type of aeroelastic instability characterized by large amplitude, low frequency, normal to wind oscillations. It normally appears in bodies with small stiffness and structural damping when they are placed in a flow and the incident velocity is high enough. In this paper a systematic approach for the analysis of galloping of triangular cross-section bodies is reported. Wind tunnel experiments have been conducted aiming at establishing the unstable characteristics of isosceles triangular cross-section bodies when subjected to a uniform flow with angles of attack ranging from 0 to 180°. The results have been summarized in a stability map, where galloping instability zones in the angle of attack—main vertex angle plane—are identified.     

连续档覆冰导线舞动数值模拟及参数分析简

本文对仅有一档满足舞动条件的连续档输电线路的振动进行了详细地研究. 利用ABAQUS 通用软件建立考虑绝缘子串连续档覆冰输电线的精细有限元模型,通过用户自定义单元UEL 施加空气动力载荷,获得考虑几何非线性的连续档覆冰导线大幅振动的时域解. 根据数值结果研究了连续档输电导线档距及档数变化对连续档内不同档输电线舞动的影响规律,所得结果对连续档覆冰导线舞动和防舞技术的研究具有一定的参考价值.