Rain vibrations of cables in cable-stayed bridge

Abstract

At the construction stage of a cable-stayed bridge, large amplitude vibrations of the cables are observed for several times. This observed vibration of single cables is an instability phenomenon caused by the combined influence of rain and wind.
A detailed aerodynamic wind-tunnel investigation shows that, pouring rain on the cable tracks down the cable making water rivulets at upper surface andbottom surface of the cable, and with these two rivulets, the cable cross section becomes aerodynamically unstable.
Compared with aerolian vibrations, the rain vibration of the cable is a low-frequency high-amplitude vibration.