Determination of 3D wind induced vibration of cables for cable–stayed bridges

Abstract

This paper is focused in the analysis of cable stays for Viaducto Zaragoza Bridge located in the city of Puebla, Mexico. Computational fluid dynamics based on finite element method is used to simulate wind forces acting on the cable stays, which are coupled to a structural model of each model analyzed for two wind velocities, associated with serviceability limit state (50 km/hr or 14 m/s) and maximum wind velocity (140 km/hr or 14 m/s). Thus, a stabilized fluid flow formulation is presented to solve an ALE fluid flow while a geometrically non–linear solid elements are used to model the cable stays. Both solutions are coupled using a strong coupling technique to perform an aeroelastic analysis of the cable stays. The results suggest that transversal vibration to wind action can generate undesirable vibrations conditions as the resonance phenomenon in cable stays.