Issue 76

A. Huynh-Thai et alii, Fracture and Structural Integrity, 76 (2026) 99-116; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.76.07

The damping influence in monitoring the tension of cable using the vibration method

An Huynh-Thai, Toan Pham-Bao*, Luan Vuong-Cong Laboratory of Applied Mechanics (LAM), Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT), VNU-HCM, Vietnam.

htan.sdh232@hcmut.edu.vn, http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1436-4932 baotoanbk@hcmut.edu.vn, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2105-2403 vuongluan@hcmut.edu.vn , http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4146-9297

Citation: Huynh-Thai, A., Pham-Bao, T., Vuong-Cong, L., The damping influence in monitoring the tension of cable using the vibration method, Fracture and Structural Integrity, 76 (2026) 99-116.

Received: 16.10.2025 Accepted: 12.01.2026 Published: 22.01.2026 Issue: 04.2026

Copyright: © 2026 This is an open access article under the terms of the CC-BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

K EYWORDS . Rayleigh beam, Vibration, Cable, Damping, Viscoelastic.

I NTRODUCTION

able vibration regularly occurs in operating structures and negatively impacts the performance and long-term maintenance of cable-supported structures. Therefore, it is necessary to develop solutions to control and predict the condition of structures, especially cable structures such as stayed cables of cable-stayed bridges, suspenders of suspension bridges, and hangers of arch bridges. Pre-stressed or stayed cables typically consist of steel wire bundles (near linear elasticity), a corrosion-resistant high-density polyethylene (HDPE) jacket, protective grease or cement mortar, anchorage assemblies, and sometimes viscoelastic damping. Therefore, the observed damping of vibrations is not only due to the steel but also to the polymer components and the contact surfaces. In terms of material mechanics, this can be modeled in various ways. Steel has low but non-zero internal friction; in addition, fiber friction, anchor slippage, and mortar micro-cracking contribute to the structural damping, along with polymers (HDPE, sealants, and anchor pads). When inspecting cable structures, estimating the tension acting on the cable based on the vibration technique plays a significant role, due to the damping effect of cables. Vibration measurement using accelerometers is more commonly employed in C

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