Method of damping the vibrations of stay cables and associated system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9714489-B2
Application number	US-201113026152-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 11, 2011
Priority date	May 12, 2010
Publication date	Jul 25, 2017
Grant date	Jul 25, 2017

Abstract

A method of damping the vibrations of at least one pair of stay cables of a civil engineering structure, in which the stay cables of said pair are linked by a damper having a first stiffness in response to tensile stress and a second stiffness in response to compressive stress, the first stiffness being greater than the second stiffness.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. Method of damping the vibrations of at least one pair of stay cables of a stay cable array of a civil engineering structure, in which the stay cable array provides support and stability to the structure, and in which the stay cables of said pair are linked by a damper to damp vibrations between the at least pair of stay cables, the damper having a first stiffness in response to tensile stress and a second stiffness in response to compressive stress due to movement of one stay cable relative to another stay cable of the pair of stay cables of the stay cable array, the first stiffness being greater than the second stiffness, and in which the first stiffness is at least 1.2 times greater than the second stiffness, and in which the second stiffness is almost zero.

2. Method according to claim 1 , in which the damper is placed so that an operating axis of said damper is substantially perpendicular to the stay cables of said pair.

3. Method according to claim 1 , in which the damper damps the movements in a plane substantially perpendicular to the stay cables of said pair.

4. Method according to claim 1 , in which the damper is a damper having a rectilinear stroke.

5. Method according to claim 1 , in which the damper operates by a viscous fluid flowing between two chambers separated by a piston, the viscous fluid flow taking place through at least one passage that creates a pressure difference when the viscous fluid passes between the two chambers.

6. Method according to claim 5 , in which the pressure difference created by the passage of the fluid is less when the damper is operating under compression in relation to its operation under tension.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first stiffness is at least 2 times greater than the second stiffness.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first stiffness is at least 3 times greater than the second stiffness.

9. Method according to claim 1 , in which at least one of the stay cables of said pair of stay cables is moreover linked to a fixed element of the civil engineering structure by means of a damper having a first stiffness in response to tensile stress and a second stiffness in response to compressive stress, the first stiffness being greater than the second stiffness.

10. Method according to claim 1 , in which the connection between the damper and at least one of the stay cables of said pair allows said stay to rotate about the axis.

11. Method according to claim 1 , in which the civil engineering structure comprises at least one stay cable array situated substantially in the same plane and including said pair of stay cables, and in which the damper is positioned so that an operating axis of said damper is substantially within said plane of the stay cable array.

12. Method according to claim 11 , in which the stay cable array is constituted of at least three stay cables, and in which dampers link at least certain pairs of adjacent stay cables of the stay cable array, at least one of said dampers having a first stiffness in response to tensile stress and a second stiffness in response to compressive stress, the first stiffness being greater than the second stiffness.

13. Method according to claim 12 , in which the dampers linking the certain pairs of adjacent stay cables of the stay cable array are arranged in parallel relative to each other such that the dampers are not in continuation of each other.

14. Method according to claim 1 , in which the civil engineering structure comprises a cable-stayed bridge.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first stiffness is at least 5 times greater than the second stiffness.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first stiffness is at least 10 times greater than the second stiffness.

17. System comprising a civil engineering structure having a stay cable array and dampers arranged for damping vibrations of at least three stay cables of the stay cable array of the civil engineering structure, wherein said stay cable array provides support and stability to the structure, wherein the at least three stay cables are substantially in the same plane, said dampers being connected to the stay cables of the at least three stay cables, each damper having a first stiffness in response to tensile stress and a second stiffness in response to compressive stress, the first stiffness being greater than the second stiffness, and in which the dampers are positioned between the at least three cable stays so that an operating axis of each damper is substantially within the same plane of the at least three cable stays, and in which the second stiffness is almost zero.

18. System according to claim 17 , in which each damper is placed so that an operating axis of said damper is substantially perpendicular to the stay cables of said pair.

19. System according to claim 17 , in which each damper is arranged for damping the movements in a plane substantially perpendicular to the stay cables of said pair.

20. System according to claim 17 , in which each damper has a rectilinear stroke.

21. System according to claim 17 , in which each damper is arranged for operating by a viscous fluid flowing between two chambers separated by a piston, the viscous fluid flow taking place through at least one passage that creates a pressure difference when the viscous fluid passes between the two chambers.

22. System according to claim 21 , in which the pressure difference created by the passage of the fluid is less when each damper is operating under compression in relation to its operation under tension.

23. System according to claim 17 , in which the first stiffness is greater than the second stiffness in a ratio of at least 1 to 1.2.

24. System according to claim 17 , in which at least one of the stay cables of said at least three stay cables is moreover linked to a fixed element of the civil engineering structure by means of at least one damper having a first stiffness in response to tensile stress and a second stiffness in response to compressive stress, the first stiffness being greater than the second stiffness.

25. System according to claim 17 , in which the connection between at least one damper and at least one of the at least three stay cables allows said stay to rotate about the axis.

26. System according to claim 17 , in which the dampers linking adjacent stay cables of the stay cable array are arranged in parallel relative to each other such that the dampers are not in continuation of each other.

27. System according to claim 17 , in which the civil engineering structure comprises a cable-stayed bridge.

28. The system of claim 17 , wherein the first stiffness is at least 2 times greater than the second stiffness.

29. The system of claim 17 , wherein the first stiffness is at least 3 times greater than the second stiffness.

30. The system of claim 17 , wherein the first stiffness is at least 5 times greater than the second stiffness.

31. The system of claim 17 , wherein the first stiffness is at least 10 times greater than the second stiffness.

Assignees

• STUBLER JéRôME
• Mellier Erik
• Soletanche Freyssinet

Inventors

• STUBLER JéRôME
• Mellier Erik

Classifications

• E01D11/04 Primary

  Cable-stayed bridges · CPC title

• E01D19/16

  Suspension cables; Cable clamps for suspension cables {; Pre- or post-stressed cables} · CPC title