Extensive Field Validations and Corresponding Numerical Investigations for a Cable Tension Estimation Method Based on Local Vibration Measurements

To assess the applicability of the tension estimation method using local vibration measurements in a thorough manner, this research work is devoted to systematically investigate the appropriate covering ranges of measurements for different cables. Four cables of three cable-stayed bridges are deliberately chosen to cover a wide range of the cable slenderness parameter. Numerical analyses with finite element models and field validations with real measurements are conducted for these stay cables to demonstrate that the covering range of local measurements can be undoubtedly reduced with the increase of cable slenderness. For a relatively short cable with the slenderness parameter at the order of 4000, the adoption of 1/3 coverage is sufficient to keep a high-level accuracy with at most 1% of error. Besides, 1/4, 1/6, and 1/7 coverages are found adequate to maintain the same level of accuracy for longer cables with the slenderness parameter at the orders of 30000, 55000, and 80000, respectively. With the solid validations presented in the current study, the covering range of the cable for this simplified method employing local vibration measurements can be confidently reduced to greatly alleviate the expense and hard work of sensor installation near the high end.