Strouhal number of bridge cables with ice accretion at low flow turbulence

The paper concerns with the method and results of wind tunnel investigations of the Strouhal number (St) of a stationary iced cable model of cable-supported bridges with respect to different angles of wind attack. The investigations were conducted in the Climatic Wind Tunnel Laboratory of the Czech Academy of Sciences in $Tel{\check{c}}$. The methodology leading to the experimental icing of the inclined cable model was prepared in a climatic section of the laboratory. The shape of the ice on the cable was registered by a photogrammetry method. A section of an iced cable model with a smaller scale was reproduced with a 3D printing procedure for subsequent aerodynamic investigations. The St values were determined within the range of the Reynolds number (Re) between $2.4{\cdot}10^4$ and $16.5{\cdot}10^4$, based on the dominant vortex shedding frequencies measured in the wake of the model. The model was oriented at three principal angles of wind attack for each of selected Re values. The flow regimes were distinguished for each model configuration. In order to recognize the tunnel blockage effect the St of a circular smooth cylinder was also tested. Good agreement with the reported values in the subcritical Re range of a circular cylinder was obtained. The knowledge of the flow regimes of the airflow around an iced cable and the associated St values could constitute a basis to formulate a mathematical description of the vortex-induced force acting on the iced cable of a cable-supported bridge and could allow predicting the cable response due to the vortex excitation phenomenon.