Analysis on wind-induced vibration and its influential factors of long suspenders in the wake of bridge tower

For the problem of wind-induced vibrations experienced by the suspenders near the tower of a suspension bridge, a comprehensive study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of wind-induced vibrations and corresponding influential factors of the long suspenders in the wake of the bridge tower. By utilizing the overset grid technology, an analytical model of the suspenders in the wake of the tower was established based on the computational fluid dynamics. Then, the characteristics of wind-induced vibrations exhibited by the long-span suspenders were analyzed. The influences of the distance between suspender and bridge tower, damping ratio of suspender and reduced wind velocity on the wind-induced vibrations of long suspenders were investigated. The results indicate that the frequency of vortex shedding is relatively small due to the large scale of bridge tower, thereby contributing to the excitation of large-amplitude vibrations of long suspenders, with transverse vibration being more prominent. The transverse wind-induced vibration of a suspender initially increases as the distance between suspender and bridge tower expands, followed by a subsequent decreasing trend. Increasing the damping ratio can effectively suppress the vibration of the suspenders in the wake region of the bridge tower, and the effect in transverse vibration is more salient than that in downwind vibration. The wake-induced vibration of a long suspender initially increases and subsequently decreases as the reduced wind velocity rises. It reaches the peak when reduced wind velocity is between 4. 5 and 5.5. © 2023 Southeast University. All rights reserved.