Experimental evaluation of a self-powered smart damping system in reducing vibrations of a full-scale stay cable

Abstract

This paper investigates the effectiveness of a self-powered smart damping system consisting of a magnetorheological (MR) damper and an electromagnetic induction (EMI) device in reducing cable vibrations. The proposed smart damping system incorporates an EMI device, which is capable of converting vibration energy into useful electrical energy. Thus, the incorporated EMI device can be used as an alternative power source for the MR damper, making it a self-powering system. The primary goal of this experimental study is to evaluate the performance of the proposed smart damping system using a full-scale, 44.7 m long, high-tension cable. To this end, an EMI part and an MR damper were designed and manufactured. Using a cable test setup in a laboratory setting, a series of tests were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the self-powered smart damping system in reducing free vibration responses of the cable. The performances of the proposed smart damping system are compared with those of an equivalent passive system. Moreover, the damping characteristics of the smart damping system and the passive system are compared. The experimental results show that the self-powered smart damping system outperforms the passive control cases in reducing the vibrations of the cable. The results also show that the EMI can operate the smart damping system as a sole power source, demonstrating the feasibility of the self-powering capability of the system.