A novel refined arctangent exponential shear deformation theory (RAESDT) is presented for analysis the mechanical behavior of both isotropic and sandwich FGM plates. Material properties are set to be isotropic at each point and varied across the thickness direction obeying to a power-law distribution of the volume fraction gradation with respect to FGM core or skins of the plate. Unlike high-order shear deformation plate theories based on five or more variables, the displacement field of the novel RAESDT using arctangent exponential variations in planed displacements were approximated by only four unknowns, satisfying naturally tangential stress-free conditions at the plate surfaces and leading to reduce computational efforts. In accordance with RAESDT and enhanced moving kriging interpolation (EMKI)-based meshfree method with a new quadrature correlation function is introduced for the numerical modeling. Numerical validations with different plate configurations, geometries, length to thickness ratios and boundaries conditions are conducted. The obtained results are compared with the corresponding solutions available in the literature showing the accuracy and efficiency of the present approach.

This paper presents an experimental investigation of stayed cable vibrations in dry-wind and rain-wind coupling hazards. To mitigate large vibrations of the cable, the use of spiral wires wrapped around the cable is proposed. By testing two cable models in a wind tunnel in dry and rain conditions for different yaw angles and wind speeds, the effectiveness of using the spiral wires to mitigate large vibrations is clarified. Finally, the paper provides a further understanding of the complex mechanism of wind-induced and rain-wind-induced vibrations. It is found that the low-frequency vortex flows in the wake play a significant role in the excitation of large responses of the cable in high wind speeds. The spiral wires dismiss these low-frequency flows and then reduce the large vibrations.