Experimental Study of Resonant Vibrations of Suspended Steel Cables Using a 3D Motion Analysis System

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an experimental study of regular resonant vibrations of steel cables using a camera-based three-dimensional (3D) motion analysis system. The cable had one fixed end, and the other end was subjected to harmonic vertical excitation. Retroreflective markers were fixed to the cable and evenly distributed along it. The 3D motion analysis system was used to obtain 3D time traces of all marker vibrations; these traces were then entered into other programs for further signal processing. Time-varying modal coordinates were extracted from the trajectories of the markers using a modal decomposition technique. The resonant vibrations observed include isolated and simultaneous