Experimental Investigation on a Cable Structure Equipped with an Electrodynamic Damper and Its Monitoring Strategy through Energy Harvesting

The vibration of cables in a cable-supported bridge affects its serviceability and safety. Therefore, cable dampers are essential for vibration control, monitoring, and the further maintenance of such bridges. In this study, the vibration control performance of an electrodynamic damper applied to a cable used in a footbridge was experimentally verified considering the major design variables of the damper. The damping performance was analyzed by varying the damping ratio according to the excitation condition and external circuit resistance. The acceleration and displacement at each measurement point and the frequency-domain response decreased. Considering the dominant response conditions of the cables in the bridge, an effective additional attenuation was observed. In addition, the harvesting power considering the measurement frequency and power loss was sufficient to operate a wireless measuring sensor by examining the energy harvesting performance from the cable measurement data of an actual bridge in service. Finally, a stepwise operation strategy for a cable vibration monitoring system was suggested and examined by analyzing the meteorological observation data and the power output according to the wind environment. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using an electrodynamic damper to build an integrated monitoring system capable of simultaneous cable vibration reduction and energy harvesting.