On the nonlinear effects of the mean wind force on the galloping onset in shallow cables

The critical aeroelastic behavior of horizontal, suspended, and shallow cables is analyzed via a continuous model accounting for both external and internal damping. Quasi-steady aerodynamic forces are considered, including their stationary contribution (mean wind force). This latter induces a rotation of the cable (steady swing) around the line connecting the suspension points, together with a deformation of the initial equilibrium profile under self-weight. First, by using perturbation methods, the nontrivial equilibrium configuration is analytically determined as a nonlinear function of the wind velocity. Then, the wind critical values at which bifurcations take place and the corresponding modal shapes are determined by solving a boundary value problem in the complex field. Numerical investigations are carried out to validate the perturbation solution. A preliminary nonlinear galloping analysis is also performed to verify the galloping onset in terms of non-trivial equilibrium path and critical modes. The nonlinear terms related to the fundamental path, from which bifurcations take place, play a key role revealing new insights. They are able to heavily influence the system bifurcation, making unstable configurations which instead would be aerodynamically stable without considering the effect of the mean wind force.