Key Design and Dehumidification Effect Testing of a New Dry Air Protection System for Main Cables
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 29, Issue 11
Abstract
This study introduces a new main cable protection system designed to mitigate the issue of cable corrosion by circulating dry air from within the main cable. The proposed protection system effectively addresses the limitations of traditional anticorrosion techniques. In this study, the primary focus was on the initial design of the key structure for the new main cable protection system. Moreover, a comprehensive dehumidification test was conducted on a full-scale model of the main cable to validate the radial strength of a new ventilation pipe and assess the impact of the proposed corrosion protection system. The dehumidification efficiency of the new main cable protection system was verified in comparison to the traditional main cable protection system. The results indicate that the newly designed ventilation pipe exhibited minimal radial deformation when subjected to cable clamp pressure. Therefore, the ventilation pipe meets the strength criteria for the internal utilization of the main cable. The ventilation pipe's opening hole scheme was configured at 6 × Ø4 to guarantee that the entire main cable is enveloped by the dry air supplied into it. Relative humidity at each measurement point along the main cable was observed to decrease to below 60%. Consequently, the proposed main cable dry air protection system can attain the anticipated anticorrosion outcome. Under the test conditions, the dry air utilization rate of the proposed system exceeded that of the traditional main cable anticorrosion system by approximately 15.4%. This suggests that the new system exhibits a higher dry air utilization rate and dehumidification efficiency than the traditional system. The study results validate the dehumidification effect of the new system and endorse its utilization in primary cable anticorrosion projects.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and codes generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
This study received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51178396/E080505), the Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 2024AFB171), the Opening Fund of the Hubei Key Laboratory of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (China Three Gorges University) (Grant No. 2023KJZ21), and the 111 Project of Hubei Province (Grant No. 2021EJD026). The acknowledgment of the financial support provided by these grants is greatly appreciated.
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Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 29 • Issue 11 • November 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 30, 2023
Accepted: Jul 5, 2024
Published online: Aug 28, 2024
Published in print: Nov 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Jan 28, 2025
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