2025 - 2026
Cristoforo Demartino
Dexu Cai
Christos Thomas Georgakis
Jingyu Wei
Robert Soltys
2025 - 2026
Novel multi-sensor testing of Ice quantification on bridge cables
ERIES-ICE-QUANT
Dataset Description
This is the results of a multi-sensor experimental testing of ice accretion and shedding on bridge cables within the ERIES Project ICE-QUANT. The project addresses two coupled risks (i) icing alters cable aerodynamics and can trigger large-amplitude vibrations, and (ii) accreted ice may detach due to mechanical or thermodynamic drivers, posing hazards to traffic below. ICE-QUANT leverages a multi-sensor remote-sensing stack—LiDAR, RGB, and thermal imaging—deployed in a controlled climatic wind-tunnel environment to reproduce representative glaze and wet-snow conditions through accretion, conservation, and shedding phases.
The tests comprised of four bridge cables each with a specific cross-section to mitigate the accretion of ice. During the testing period, the setup of the cables was changed both in yaw and inclination, allowing for difference in wind and thereby accretion of ice on the cables. Furthermore, two different types of ice were created, glaze and wet snow. These were created with rain-droplets and a snow-gun respectively. Finally, each test was comprised of three phases; (1) accretion, (2) conservation and (3) shedding. The accretion phase allows for ice to be form on the cables while the sensors are measuring. Conservation phase has the temperature constant, which makes it possible to collect geometry and images of the ice. The final shedding phase is increasing the temperature, thereby allowing for shedding of ice, which is measured by the sensors in the setup.
The data comprises of measured data and results from two RGB-cameras, two LIDAR systems, a single thermo-camera as well as temperature measurements from each of the bridge cables being tested. The tests were conducted over two periods of multiple days in December 2025 and February 2026 at the Jules Verne Climatic Wind Tunnel of CSTB, France.
Instrumentation layouts, and photos are included here and in the dataset
Specimens
1. Setup
1
Tests have been made in the thermal part of the climatic wind tunnel Jules Verne, which is composed of a closed loop circuit of air passing through a 1MW fan (4.2m diameter) and two heat exchangers, a cold one and a hot one. The test area is a 10m wide x 8 meters high section in which air is blown from a 6m wide x 3.5m high nozzle.
The cable models were fixed on a support standing on the wind tunnel ground, at a 10m distance from the blowing nozzle, with water drop or iced particles emitted at the nozzle location, transported by the wind onto the models.
The four tested cable sections were full-scale specimens of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) sheathing for bridge stay cables produced through extrusion. The experimental setup showing the four bridge cable sections installed in the climatic wind tunnel is presented in the figure entitled "Experimental setup showing the four bridge cable sections installed in the climatic wind tunnel", while the corresponding surface geometries are illustrated in "Surface geometries of the four bridge cable sections".
The circumferential-ringed surface featured circumferential rings with an average height of approximately 6.3 mm, arranged at an axial spacing of approximately 300 mm.
The helically-staggered concave-filleted (HSC-filleted) surface was an innovative design with laterally staggered concave fillets arranged in a double-helical pattern. The HSC-filleted surface was originally developed to mitigate rain–wind-induced vibrations and later demonstrated improved ice-shedding performance compared with conventional bridge cable surfaces [1,2]. The HSC fillets had a height of 6.3 mm. Each fillet had a double-concave cross-section with a thickness of 0.9 mm at the top descending into the pipe surface, where the base thickness of the fillet was 5 mm. The fillet length was defined by a circular arc with a central angle of 60°, corresponding to one-sixth of the pipe circumference. The spacing between adjacent HSC fillets was 20 mm, and their lateral offset followed a double-helical pattern with a pitch angle of 60°. The concave fillets were manufactured from the same grade of HDPE material as the pipe and attached to the pipe surface through ultrasonic welding.
The plain surface had no surface modifications.
The conventional helically-filleted (H-filleted) surface employed semi-circular fillets manufactured from the same HDPE material as the pipe. The fillets were co-extruded in a double-helical pattern with a pitch angle of 45°. The average measured height of the semi-circular fillets was 1.7 mm.
All cable sections had a diameter of 160 mm. The HSC-filleted cable section was 1.8 m long, whereas the remaining three cable sections were each 3 m long.
1. Experimental conditions
Experimental Conditions
The testing programme included different wind-direction angles relative to the cable specimens and two types of atmospheric icing:
• Glaze: Ice was formed by spraying rain droplets into the airflow, allowing the droplets to freeze on the cable surface.
• Wet snow: Ice was formed using a snow gun together with the airflow to deposit wet snow on the cable surface.
Experimental Procedure
Each test consisted of three stages:
Accretion
• Ice was accumulated on the cable specimen under controlled environmental conditions.
• For wet-snow tests, accretion was carried out at −3.5 °C with a wind speed of 10 m/s.
• The accretion stage lasted approximately 20 min.
• Due to the practical constraint of completing two full experimental cycles (accretion–conservation–shedding) per day, relative humidity was not precisely controlled.
Conservation
• The target ice accumulation was reached.
• Snow generation was stopped while the ambient temperature was maintained.
• High-quality geometry and imagery were collected during this stage.
• The conservation stage lasted approximately 30 min.
Shedding
• The ambient temperature was increased at approximately 0.25 °C/min until reaching 10 °C, after which it was maintained.
• Wind speed was set to 2 m/s.
• These conditions allowed ice to shed naturally while all sensors continuously recorded the process.
• The shedding stage typically lasted 90–180 min, depending on the experimental schedule and the progression of ice shedding.
• For Configuration 5, the Canon EOS R5 was repositioned approximately 7.5 m perpendicular to the wind direction and 0.2 m upstream of the cable to obtain a more suitable viewing angle.
Stage Transitions
• Accretion → Conservation: Target ice accumulation reached.
• Conservation → Shedding: Geometry and image acquisition completed, followed by the start of heating.
Instrumentation
• RGB cameras: Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6
• LiDAR sensors: Ouster OS1 and LSLiDAR CH128×1
• Thermal camera: Testo 885
• Temperature sensors: One temperature sensor installed in each cable specimen
The overall figure for showing the placement of instruments according to the various configurations is given in "Various placement of instruments according to the specimens over the whole series of experiments.png".
The location of thermocouples on the models in given in the figure "Location_of_thermocouples_on_models.png"
2. Tests with glaze ice or wet snow deposit
8
8 configurations have been explored in 5 days of wind tunnel testing.
1. Configuration 1
This test was done with the following set up:
Glaze, 0 degree / 0 degree (yaw / inclination)
For this configuration the placement of the instrumentation changed between Accretion and Shedding. All instruments are in front of the specimens during Accretion and Ouster OS1, Thermal camera and Canon EOS R5 is moved behind during Shedding. See setup for better explanation.
Instrumentation
• RGB cameras: Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6
• LiDAR sensors: Ouster OS1 and LSLiDAR CH128×1
• Thermal camera: Testo 885
• Temperature sensors: One temperature sensor installed in each cable specimen
2. Configuration 2
This test was done with the following set up:
Wet Snow, 0 degree / 0 degree (yaw / inclination)
For this configuration the placement of the instrumentation changed between Accretion and Shedding. All instruments are in front of the specimens during Accretion and Ouster OS1, Thermal camera and Canon EOS R5 is moved behind during Shedding. See setup for better explanation.
Instrumentation
• RGB cameras: Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6
• LiDAR sensors: Ouster OS1 and LSLiDAR CH128×1
• Thermal camera: Testo 885
• Temperature sensors: One temperature sensor installed in each cable model
3. Configuration 3
This test was done with the following set up:
Wet Snow, 30 degree / 30 degree (yaw / inclination)
For this configuration the placement of the instrumentation changed between Accretion and Shedding. All instruments are in front of the specimens during Accretion and Ouster OS1, Thermal camera and Canon EOS R5 is moved behind during Shedding. See setup for better explanation.
Instrumentation
• RGB cameras: Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6
• LiDAR sensors: Ouster OS1 and LSLiDAR CH128×1
• Thermal camera: Testo 885
• Temperature sensors: One temperature sensor installed in each cable specimen
4. Configuration 4
This test was done with the following set up:
Wet Snow, 0 degree / 30 degree (yaw / inclination)
For this configuration the placement of the instrumentation changed between Accretion and Shedding. All instruments are in front of the specimens during Accretion and Ouster OS1, Thermal camera and Canon EOS R5 is moved behind during Shedding. See setup for better explanation.
Instrumentation
This test was done with the following set up:
Wet Snow, 0 degree / 30 degree (yaw / inclination)
For this configuration the placement of the instrumentation changed between Accretion and Shedding. All instruments are in front of the specimens during Accretion and Ouster OS1, Thermal camera and Canon EOS R5 is moved behind during Shedding. See setup for better explanation.
5. Configuration 5
This test was done with the following set up:
Glaze, 0 degree / 30 degree (yaw / inclination)
For this configuration the placement of the instrumentation changed between Accretion and Shedding. All instruments are in front of the specimens during Accretion and Ouster OS1, Thermal camera and Canon EOS R5 is moved behind during Shedding. See setup for better explanation
Instrumentation
• RGB cameras: Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6
• LiDAR sensors: Ouster OS1 and LSLiDAR CH128×1
• Thermal camera: Testo 885
• Temperature sensors: One temperature sensor installed in each cable specimen
6. Configuration 6
This test was done with the following set up:
Wet snow, -30 degree / 0 degree (yaw / inclination)
For this configuration the placement of the instrumentation changed between Accretion and Shedding. All instruments are in front of the specimens during Accretion and Ouster OS1, Thermal camera and Canon EOS R5 is moved behind during Shedding. See setup for better explanation.
Instrumentation
Same as the previous ones
7. Configuration 7
This test was done with the following set up:
Wet snow, -30 degree / 30 degree (yaw / inclination)
For this configuration the placement of the instrumentation changed between Accretion and Shedding. All instruments are in front of the specimens during Accretion and Ouster OS1, Thermal camera and Canon EOS R5 is moved behind during Shedding. See setup for better explanation.
Instrumentation
• RGB cameras: Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6
• LiDAR sensors: Ouster OS1 and LSLiDAR CH128×1
• Thermal camera: Testo 885
• Temperature sensors: One temperature sensor installed in each cable specimen
8. Configuration 8
This test was done with the following set up:
Glaze, -30 degree / 30 degree (yaw / inclination)
Instrumentation
• RGB cameras: Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6
• LiDAR sensors: Ouster OS1 and LSLiDAR CH128×1
• Temperature sensors: One temperature sensor installed in each cable specimen
Project Metadata
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.
CC BY 4.0
0 sessions
0 downloads
0 views
0 metadata
0 file previews
Feedback
We are always looking to improve the quality of our data and metadata. If you have any feedback or suggestions, please let us know.
Send Feedback