Modal Interaction-Induced Parametric Resonance of Stayed Cable: A Combined Theoretical and Experimental Investigation

The cable-stayed bridge is widely used due to its strong spanning capacity and navigability. However, flexible cables parametrically resonated by external excitation may result in instability or even damage to the bridge. To prevent such undesirable resonance, this paper discusses an in-plane modal interaction-induced parametric resonance of the stayed cable excited by the bridge deck vibration via nonlinear dynamic analysis. Based on the nonlinear distributed model, two modal governing equations of the cable are established via the Galerkin method. A certain working condition, when the external excitation frequency is close to the second-order natural frequency of the stay cable while nearly twice the first-order natural frequency, is theoretically and experimentally investigated. Specifically, the frequency response equations are obtained by the multiscale method, and the stability of solutions is examined through the Routh Hurwitz criterion. Theoretical and experimental results show that bridge deck vibration can induce not only the primary and superharmonic resonance of the cable but also the principal parametric resonance. Parametric resonance-induced bifurcations are also observed in the system. Particularly, the energy exchange from second-order primary resonance to first-order principal parametric resonance is found, which can induce the parametric resonance with the response amplitude one to three times higher than that of the primary resonance. This paper also validates the superiority of the present modal interaction model over the traditional single-mode model in practical engineering applications.