Investigation of Strouhal number of ice-accreted bridge cables at moderate flow turbulence

Abstract

Abstract. This paper is concerned with the investigation of the Strouhal number (St) for a stationary iced cable model of cable-supported bridges using wind tunnel tests with respect to three principal angles of wind attack. The investigations were carried out in the Climatic Wind Tunnel Laboratory of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Telč. The St values were determined at the flow turbulence intensity of the order of 12%, within the range of the Reynolds number from 2.4·10 4 to 12.9·10 4 , based on the dominant vortex shedding frequencies measured in the wake of the model. The obtained experimental St values of the iced cable of a cable-supported bridge will allow to determine the critical wind velocity as well as will be helpful for prediction of the cable response due to the vortex excitation phenomenon at moderate flow turbulence condition.