Damping Estimation from Free Decay Responses of Cables with MR Dampers

This paper discusses the damping measurements on cables with real-time controlled MR dampers that were performed on a laboratory scale single strand cable and on cables of the Sutong Bridge, China. The control approach aims at producing amplitude and frequency independent cable damping which is confirmed by the tests. The experimentally obtained cable damping in comparison to the theoretical value due to optimal linear viscous damping reveals that support conditions of the cable anchors, force tracking errors in the actual MR damper force, energy spillover to higher modes, and excitation and sensor cables hanging on the stay cable must be taken into consideration for the interpretation of the identified cable damping values.