Full-Size Testing of Stay Cable Damping for the Assessment of Viscous Damper Efficiency

Full-scale stay cable tests for viscous damping assessment at the Guadiana International Bridge are presented and discussed in this article. The tests carried out involved a pull-and-release method which allowed a repeatable damping assessment. Based on this, stay cable damping was identified by an exponential function fit to acceleration data. Measured stay cable damping ratios confirmed the viscous damper design, achieving a minimum of 4% logarithmic decrement total damping in accordance with fib89.