Students Collaborate with TRACC on Bridge Cable Vibrations

Undesirable cable vibrations in cable-stayed bridges can result in structural damage. As part of TRACC’s commitment to work with universities on ongoing research projects, Prof. Abhijit Gupta at Northern Illinois University, who is an expert in mechanical vibrations, and two graduate students, Srihari Vannemreddi and Bharathi Vannemreddy, are working alongside TRACC’s computational structural analysis staff on this problem.

Prof. Gupta and his students completed a literature review to identify cable designs, cable materials and prior analyses. They are now working on the development of a finite element model for a single monolithic stay cable subjected to parametric excitation of the cable ends.

Cable vibrations are analyzed as parametric excitations or motion excitations of inclined cables. Researchers are studying cable vibrations through numerical simulations on the TRACC High Performance Cluster. Computational and simulation methods are needed to efficiently model the anchorage motions resulting from traffic, buffeting and other wind effects on the main structure, and the impact of these motions on cable stability must be assessed. 

Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge. (Courtesy of Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center)