The nonlinear interaction of the first two in-plane modes of a suspend
ed cable with a moving fluid along the plane of the cable is studied.
The governing equations of motion for two-mode interaction are derived
on the basis of a general continuum model. The interaction causes the
modal differential equations of the cable to be non-self-adjoint. As
the flow speed increases above a certain critical value, the cable exp
eriences oscillatory motion similar to the flutter of aeroelastic stru
ctures. A co-ordinate transformation in terms of the transverse and st
retching motions of the cable is introduced to reduce the two nonlinea
rly coupled differential equations into a linear ordinary differential
equation governing the stretching motion, and a strongly nonlinear di
fferential equation for the transverse motion. For small values of the
gravity-to-stiffness ratio the dynamics of the cable is examined usin
g a two-time-scale approach. Numerical integration of the modal equati
ons shows that the cable experiences stretching oscillations only when
the flow speed exceeds a certain level. Above this level both stretch
ing and transverse motions take place. The influences of system parame
ters such as gravity-to-stiffness ratio and density ratio on the respo
nse characteristics are also reported.