177

Appendix C-Assessment of Cable Force

and Damping

C.l General

The assessment of cable force during the construction or service life of a bridge can be
done by several methods based on (i) the direct measurement of the stress in the tensioning
jacks; (ii) the application of ring load cells or strain gauges in the strands; (iii) the measured
elongation close to an anchorage; (iv) a topographic survey and (v) the indirect measurement
of vibrations. The advantages and drawbacks of the various techniques are discussed in the
following section, focusing in particular on the technique of tension estimation through the
measurement of vibrations. The assessment of damping based on the cable response is also
discussed.

C.2 Methods of Force Assessment

C.2.1 Direct measurement of stress in tensioning jacks

This method is employed during the construction of the bridge and provides a direct measure
of the installed tension. Mars and Hardy [140] found errors of 10% to 15% in the application
of this technique. It is therefore of utmost importance to ensure that hydraulic jacks are
properly calibrated. This technique is not adequate to estimate the tension after construction
of the bridge as the installation of the jacks is a long process and can produce damage in the
anchorages.

C.2.2 Application of ring load cells or of strain gauges in strands

Ring load cells can be applied to either one or a few of the individual strands that form the
cable, or to the set of strands. Therefore, either individual or average global measures of the
installed tension are possible. Although the individual assessment of the strand tension would
be of interest for the purpose of detection of cracks, the application to all strands of all cables
would not be feasible. Therefore, the normal practice is to either select one or a few strands
of a cable for installation of strain gauges or small load cells (see example in Fig. C. 1 ), or
to mount a ring load cell at one cable anchorage between two bearing plates. In any case the
principle is the same, i.e., the measurement of deformation through strain gauge rosettes. The
load ring cell is actually a spool of a heat-treated steel alloy with equally spaced bonded strain
gauge rosettes. The number of rosettes is at least four, so that eccentricity effects are avoided.
The rosettes are composed of two strain gauges, one for the axial and the other for tangential
strain measurement. A strong aluminium housing filled with a high-density resin protects the
strain gauges from moisture and impact damage. Figure C.2 shows the installation of a ring
load cell.
178 Cable Vibrations in Cable-Stayed Bridges

Fig. C.1: Installation of a load cell on a strand of one stay cable

(a) (b )

Fig. C.2: (a) Example of center-hole load cell (ht~://www.slopeindicator.conz/instrunzents/

loadcell-bondedsg.htm() und; (3) Scheme of installation on laborutoiy application

The major inconvenience in the use of load cells for assessment of cable force is the cost
of the numerous sensors required, which have to remain installed in the structure and have
to be adequately calibrated, given the time variation of strain gauge properties. The direct
installation of strain gauge rosettes in particular strands of a cable is another possibility, the
major inconvenience being the time required to properly mount the sensor.

C.2.3 Measurement of cable elongation

The measure of the elongation of a segment of the cable close to the anchorage can be used
to assess the corresponding deformation, providing a measure of the installed cable tension.
Given the current deformations in stay cables of around lop3, an elongation of about 0.2 mm
is attained in a segment 0.2 m long. So, if a precision of 5% is required in the estimate, then
Appendix C-Assessment of Cable Force and Damping 179

the measure should be made with an accuracy of 0.01 nznz. This accuracy is not easy to obtain
on site.

C.2.4 Topographic survey

The assessment of cable tension based on topographical measurements is current practice

during construction and provides particularly accurate results when the stay cable is only
slightly tensioned.

C.2.5 Vibration method

The indirect estimation of tension through the measurement of the cable's natural frequencies
is based on the vibrating chord theory. This method will be described in the next section
and is currently of great interest for the assessment of cable condition throughout its service
life, given the ease of application. The major drawback is associated with the lesser accuracy
whenever the free length of the cable is not accurately known.

C.3 Force and Damping Assessment Based on the

Vibration Method
C.3.1 Vibrating chord theory

The method is based on the vibrating chord theory, a direct result of the theory of wave
propagation [ 1351 applied to a tensioned cable fixed at the two ends. Accordingly, a tensioned
cable fixed at the two ends constitutes a non-dispersive medium, i.e. a medium where the
velocity of wave propagation is independent of the frequency. A transverse perturbation applied
at some point along the cable propagates till the end of the cable and reflects successively,
leading to a system of transverse stationary waves with sinusoidal shape characterised by
natural frequencies f n given by

These frequencies are functions of the distance between the cable ends t (the chord length)
and of the velocity of wave propagation c = m, where H is the cable tension and nz is
the mass per unit length. So, if f i t is known, the installed tension H will be

f,'
H = 4mt2.-
n2

The first reported applications of the vibrating chord theory to the estimation of cable
tension in civil engineering structures are due to Mars and Hardy [140] and Robert
et al. [141]. These authors have concluded that the application of the theory to the
evaluation of the installed tension in stay cables is valid as long as the correspond-
ing length is not too short. In effect, it was observed in Appendix B that, even though
the bending stiffness E l is generally very small for stay cables, bending effects can be
180 Cable Vibrations in Cable-Stayed Bridges

important for small cable lengths, giv-

ing rise to a dispersive character of
vibrations, the consequence being a
change from the linear nature of the
curve generated by the variation of the
natural frequency with the order of
mode. So, in order to guarantee the
validity of application of the vibrat-
ing chord theory to a particular cable,
one should measure first the harmonics
of the cable and plot them against the
mode order, in a graph of the type rep-
resented in Fig. C.3. If the deviation of
Mode number
the fitted curve to the tangent at the ori-
gin is very small, (Robert et ul. [141] Fig. C.3: Representation of the cable’s natwal fie-
propose less than 0.6% for the seventh quencies with the mode number
mode), then the estimate of the cable
tension through the vibrating chord the-
ory will be accurate.

Assuming the validity of expression (C.2), it is important to evaluate the level of accuracy
provided by this technique. Designating by E H , ~ f ,E!. and E, the relative errors associated
with the estimation of the tension and first cable frequency, and with the definition of the
chord length and mass per unit length, respectively, the following relationship holds

So, assuming errors of 1% in the measurement of the first natural frequency and in the
definition of chord length and cable mass, an error of 5% is obtained in the estimate of cable
tension. Furthermore, if the purpose of the measurement is to study the variation of tension
between the two stages where measurements are performed, then the only error involved in
the estimate of tension variation is due to the frequency measurement. Therefore the accuracy
of tension variation estimates is enhanced.

C.3.2 Bending and sag effects

The bending and sag effects in the dynamic behaviour of a stay cable have been described
in Appendix B. Sag effects in particular were taken into account by Irvine, who developed
an implicit equation (B.lO) for the natural frequency as a function of the Irvine parameter A’.
Simplified approaches also allowed for a simultaneous account of sag and bending effects,
providing correction coefficients to the vibrating chord formula (C. 1). Using the formula from
Mehrabi and Tabatabai [ 1381, the following corrected frequencies f,‘ are obtained

f ; i = fl [
. (1 + 0.039 A2) . (1 y)
+ 2r + r - 0.24 ]: (1st in-plane mode)

f;, = fi . (1 + 2 + Y)(1st out-of-plane mode)

r r
Appendix C-Assessment of Cable Force and Damping 181

<
So, if = Jm is known, the measured frequency f,: can be easily used in the
<
estimate of H . As normally only an approximation of is available, the best solution for an
accurate estimate of the tension consists in the application of an algorithm for a simultaneous
identification of H and <,preferably based on higher order measured frequencies, in order to
enhance bending effects.

It is important to notice that sag effects influence essentially the first in-plane mode of
stay cables. Equation (C.4) reflects that aspect. Moreover, if the bending stiffness effects
are neglected in this equation, the following linear function of h2 yields

This expression provides a rather accurate approximation to the solution of the implicit
equation (B.lO) developed by Irvine, when applied to stay cables with h2 values in the range of
0-5, typical of stay cables. In effect, the relative error associated with the increment of natural
frequency calculated on the basis of this formula is no greater than 5% for this range of h2
values. Figure C.4shows a comparison between the correction to the fundamental frequency
calculated on the basis of equation (B.lO) and given by (C.5), as well as the relative errors
given by the second with respect to the correction proposed by Irvine.

(a) (b)

Fig. C.4: (a) Correction to fundumentul vibruting chord frequency ussociuted with sug effects,
Irvine and sinzpl$ed solutions; 6)Relative error to Irvine solution

C.3.3 Measurement of cable frequencies

The measurement of the cable’s natural frequencies is performed normally using an

accelerometer connected to the stay cable at some point close to the deck anchorage (Fig. C.5).
This accelerometer is connected to a data acquisition system that records the time response to
some external excitation, as the one produced by an impact hammer, or simply the ambient
excitation. Piezoelectric accelerometers with a low limit frequency range of almost DC and a
sensitivity of at least 10 nzV/g are an interesting option, given that they do not require power
supply, but only a combination with a signal pre-amplifier. For the acquisition system, although
many solutions are currently available in the market, a requirement of ease of application and
portability should be made. The solution represented in Fig. C.5, composed by a 2-channel
portable Fourier Analyzer materialised by a PCMCIA card installed in a conventional laptop,
is one of the simplest and also most portable solutions.

With respect to the measurement parameters, namely the length of the recorded time series and
frequency range of sampling, a good practice is to measure the cable response in a frequency
range corresponding to the first 10 natural frequencies of the cable. Given the usual range of
182 Cable Vibrations in Cable-Stayed Bridges

Fig. C.5: Measurenzent of acceleration close to the cable anchorage: acceleroonzeter, condi-
tioning unit und Fourier Anulyzer. Excitation using impuct hanznzer

0.2-2 Hz for the first mode, this means a frequency range of 0 to 2-20 Hz. The time resolution
should consider the maximum accepted measurement error and the fundamental frequency of
the cable. If an error E f of 1% is expected in the frequency, then for a cable characterised
by a fundamental frequency f l , the frequency resolution Af should be less than 0.01 . f l .
This means that the time record associated with one measurement should have a length of
TI = lOO/fl. Assuming that the frequency content of the recorded signals is obtained from
an average of the frequency content of n time records for the purpose of reducing the noise
present in the measurements and given an overlap of 50%, combined with a Hanning time
window (for records of response to ambient excitation), then the length T of the necessary
time records is

T=
+
50 50n
f l

So, for a cable with a fundamental frequency of 1 Hz, an average spectral estimate of the
frequency content based on six records will require a sampling time of 350 s to guarantee a
frequency measurement error no greater than 1%.

C.3.4 Estimation of cable damping

The most accurate form of estimating the damping of a stay cable consists in measuring the
corresponding free vibration response after inducing resonance in the mode of interest. This
task is relatively easy to achieve prior to installation of the damper by the manual pulling of a
rope attached to the cable in the vicinity of the deck anchorage till resonance, or else by man-
ually pulling the cable from a height of 10-15 m from an elevated platform. The interruption
Appendix C-Assessment of Cable Force and Damping 183
184 Cable Vibrations in Cable-Stayed Bridges

of the excitation and the measurement of the free vibration response allow for an estimate
of the logarithmic decrement, by fitting a single degree exponential to the envelope of the
response (Fig. C.6).

After installation or activation of the dampers, it may be difficult to induce a measurable level
of response from excitation of the cable in the vicinity of the anchorage. In that circumstance
and in case an elevating platform is not available, the use of an impact hammer constitutes
an interesting alternative: the hit of the cable close to the anchorage with an impulse hammer
incorporating a force sensor at the tip and the simultaneous measurement of the applied force
and cable response allow for the estimation of frequency response functions. The damping
coefficients associated with the various induced modes can be identified by an appropriate
fitting algorithm, or simply by application of the half-power bandwidth method.

A less accurate estimate of damping coefficients can still be obtained whenever a force
sensor is not available at the hammer tip, or even when no hammer is available. In this
case, spectral estimates of the ambient response of the cable close to the anchorage can be
obtained. Assuming stationarity and a constant frequency content of the excitation, damping
coefficients can be extracted from system identification applied to power spectral estimates.

The application of frequency domain techniques to the identification of damping coefficients

may lead to considerable errors when these coefficients are very low, e.g. less than 0.5%. In
that case a high frequency resolution is required for a limitation of those errors.

C.3.5 Practical application

In this section a practical application is presented which refers to the following problem: for
a cable-stayed bridge under construction it is the purpose of the designer to have an accurate
estimate of the installed tension in the stay cables for three phases during construction. The
bridge is formed by two spans of 120 and 69 nz, and has a concrete deck box section 18 nz wide,
as represented in Fig. C.7 [ 1421. The larger span is suspended by a central plane composed
of ten stay cables. Three pairs of backstays are anchored at each side of the other span, as
shown in Figures C. 7 and C.8.

The tensions were estimated at the following stages: (i) first, after the installation and initial
tensioning of the first suspension cable and the first pair of backstays: (ii) second, after the
end of construction, prior to the introduction of the asphalt layer and activation of cable
dampers and (iii) third, after completion of the bridge, at the commissioning stage (loaded
and unloaded). Figure C.9 illustrates the three phases referred to here.

The estimation of tension was based on the vibration method described above, in which
the ambient response of the cables was measured using a piezoelectric accelerometer and
the average power spectral densities were calculated. Figure C.10 shows an example of the
average power spectral density estimate that was obtained at the third test stage, for the
unloaded bridge, at the shortest suspension stay S1 (length of 55.1 nz). This estimate was
obtained with a frequency resolution of 0.02414 Hz for the range of 0-19.53 Hz, based on the
average of 10 time records. This led to a frequency resolution of 0.014 . f 1 , which is a little
higher than advised. However each measurement was carried out in less than 5 min, which
was relevant as subsequent loading operations on the bridge were programmed. The analysis
of Fig. C.10 shows that, due to the low level of ambient excitation, only the first four modes
of vibration are clearly induced. So the verification of the applicability of the vibrating chord
Appendix C-Assessment of Cable Force and Damping 185
33
186 Cable Vibrations in Cable-Stayed Bridges

Fig. C.8: General view of cable-stayed bridge

(a) (C)

Fig. C.9: Phases of construction of bridge during which installed tension was estimated:
(u)jirst; (b) second; (c) third
 Tension estimate (Vibration chord theory) 2267 1300 2166 1843 6678 6678
Tension estimate (Sag cffcct correction) 2248 I244 2145 1623 6660 6660
Tension estimate (Sag and bending correction) 2095 1132 1996 1522 6442 6442
Relative error to sag corrected estimate (I%) 0.8 4.5 I .0 13.5 0.3 0.3
Relative error to aag and bcnd.corrcctcd cst. (Yn) 8.2 14.9 8.5 21.1 3.7 3.7
1 at measured natural frequency 1 1.7734 1.3428 1.7334 0.8594 1.6357 1 .6357
2nd measured natural ti-equency 2 3.4766 2.6367 3.4424 1.621 I 3.2471 3.27 I5
3rd measured natural frequency 3 5. I953 3.88 I8 5.1514 2.42 I9 4.8340 4.8828
4th measured natural frequency 4 I 5.2002 I 6.7627 I I 6.4209 I 6.4453 I I
1 st natural frequency corrected to sag cffcct 1.7660 1.3135 1.725 1 0.8065 1.6335 1 .6335
1st nat. Freq. corrected to sag and bend. effect I .7049 I .2530 I .6640 0.7808 1.6066 I .6066

Table (1. I: Mechunical characteristics und natura1,frequencies qf two stuy cubles fbr estimution of installed tension
188 Cable Vibrations in Cable-Stayed Bridges

Fig. C.10: Average power spectral density of ambient response at stay S l , at the third test
stage

theory is not possible. It is also important to notice the presence of global bridge frequencies
mixed with cable frequencies, which is typical of this type of measurements and requires
particular attention whenever a bridge frequency is very close to a cable’s natural frequency.
In that case, the analysis of successive harmonics plays a relevant role in the identification of
cable modes.

Table C.1 presents the mechanical characteristics of two selected cables, one suspension cable,
S1, and one backstay, I R N , as well as the first natural frequencies that were identified from
the analysis of average power spectral densities. The identification of tensions was formerly
based on the vibration chord theory. The calculation of h2 then allowed for a correction of the
estimate introducing sag effects, through simplified formula (C.5). The estimate of the bending
<
parameter allowed a second correction of the tension, using the simplified formula (C.4).
Table C.1 presents the estimates obtained, as well as the relative error of vibration chord
estimates to sag or sag and bending corrected estimates.

It can be concluded from the analysis of this Table that the vibration chord theory provides
good tension estimates while the Irvine parameter is no greater than one. Sag effects, evaluated
on the basis of the simplified formula (C.5), are of significance for the first tension level of
backstay lRN, where h2 = 1.6810. The vibration chord theory leads in this case to an error of
13.5% in the estimate of tension. As for bending effects, more than 5% error is found for stay
<
cables with < 100. It should be noted however that the finite element modelling of bending
effects for the stay cables listed above, considering the estimated bending parameters, leads to
much smaller differences to the sagged cable model than the ones resulting from the formulae
employed.