• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.127-145
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• 2012

One of the most important and challenging steps in seismic vulnerability and performance assessment of highway bridges is the determination of the bridge component damage parameters and their corresponding limit states. These parameters are very essential for defining bridge damage state as well as determining the performance of highway bridges under a seismic event. Therefore, realistic damage limit states are required in the development of reliable fragility curves, which are employed in the seismic risk assessment packages for mitigation purposes. In this article, qualitative damage assessment criteria for ordinary highway bridges are taken into account considering the critical bridge components in terms of proper engineering demand parameters (EDPs). Seismic damage of bridges is strongly related to the deformation of bridge components as well as member internal forces imposed due to seismic actions. A simple approach is proposed for determining the acceptance criteria and damage limit states for use in seismic performance and vulnerability assessment of ordinary highway bridges in Turkey constructed after the 1990s. Physical damage of bridge components is represented by three damage limit states: serviceability, damage control, and collapse prevention. Inelastic deformation and shear force demand of the bent components (column and cap beam), and superstructure displacement are the most common causes for the seismic damage of the highway bridges. Each damage limit state is quantified with respect to the EDPs: i.e. curvature and shear force demand of RC bent components and superstructure relative displacement.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.477-487
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• 2019

Understanding the behavior of skew bridges under the action of earthquakes is quite challenging due to the combined transverse and longitudinal responses even under unidirectional hit. The main goal of this research is to assess the response of skew bridges when subjected to longitudinal and transversal earthquake loading. The effect of skew on the response considering two- and three- span bridges with skew angles varying from 0 to 60 degrees is illustrated. Various pier fixities (and hence stiffness) and cross-section shapes, as well as different abutment's bearing articulations, are also studied. Finite-element models are established for modal and seismic analyses. Around 900 models are analyzed under the action of the code design response spectrum. $Vis-{\grave{a}}-vis$ modal properties, the higher the skew angle, the less the fundamental period. In addition, it is found that bridges with skew angles less than 30 degrees can be treated as straight bridges for the purpose of calculating modal mass participation factors. Other monitored results are bearings' reactions at abutments, shear and torsion demand in piers, as well as deck longitudinal displacement. Unlike straight bridges, it has been typically noted that skew bridges experience non-negligible torsion and bi-directional pier base shears. In a complementary effort to assess the accuracy of the conducted response spectrum analysis, a series of time-history analyses are applied under seven actual earthquake records scaled to match the code design response spectrum and critical comparisons are performed.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.367-392
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• 2020

The specific characteristics of near-field earthquake records can lead to different dynamic responses of bridges compared to far-field records. However, the effect of near-field strong ground motion has often been neglected in the seismic performance assessment of the bridges. Furthermore, damage to horizontally curved multi-frame RC box-girder bridges in the past earthquakes has intensified the potential of seismic vulnerability of these structures due to their distinctive dynamic behavior. Based on the nonlinear time history analyses in OpenSEES, this article, assesses the effects of near-field versus far-field earthquakes on the seismic performance of horizontally curved multi-frame RC box-girder bridges by accounting the vertical component of the earthquake records. Analytical seismic fragility curves have been derived thru considering uncertainties in the earthquake records, material and geometric properties of bridges. The findings indicate that near-field effects reasonably increase the seismic vulnerability in this bridge sub-class. The results pave the way for future regional risk assessments regarding the importance of either including or excluding near-field effects on the seismic performance of horizontally curved bridges.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.571-582
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• 2022

Optimal life-cycle management is a challenging issue for deteriorating regional bridges. Due to the complexity of regional bridge structural conditions and a large number of inspection and maintenance actions, decision-makers generally choose traditional passive management strategies. They are less efficiency and cost-effectiveness. This paper suggests a deep reinforcement learning framework employing double-deep Q-networks (DDQNs) to improve the life-cycle management of deteriorating regional bridges to tackle these problems. It could produce optimal maintenance plans considering restrictions to maximize maintenance cost-effectiveness to the greatest extent possible. DDQNs method could handle the problem of the overestimation of Q-values in the Nature DQNs. This study also identifies regional bridge deterioration characteristics and the consequence of scheduled maintenance from years of inspection data. To validate the proposed method, a case study containing hundreds of bridges is used to develop optimal life-cycle management strategies. The optimization solutions recommend fewer replacement actions and prefer preventative repair actions when bridges are damaged or are expected to be damaged. By employing the optimal life-cycle regional maintenance strategies, the conditions of bridges can be controlled to a good level. Compared to the nature DQNs, DDQNs offer an optimized scheme containing fewer low-condition bridges and a more costeffective life-cycle management plan.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.88 no.4
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• pp.311-322
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• 2023

Riverine flood is one of the critical natural threats to river-crossing bridges. As floods are the most-occurred natural hazard worldwide, survival probability of bridges due to floods must be assessed in a speedy but precise manner. In this regard, the paper presents a reliability-based approach for a rapid assessment of failure probability of vulnerable bridge components under floods. This robust method is generic in nature and can be applied to both concrete and steel girder bridges. The developed methodology essentially utilizes limit state performance functions, expressed in terms of capacity and flood demand, for probable failure modes of various vulnerable components of bridges. Advanced First Order Reliability Method (AFORM), Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS), and Latin Hypercube Simulation (LHS) techniques are applied for the purpose of reliability assessment and developing flood fragility curves of bridges in which flow velocity and water height are taken as flood intensity measures. Upon validating the proposed method, it is applied to a case study bridge that experiences the flood scenario of a river in Gujarat, India. Research outcome portrays how effectively and efficiently the proposed reliability-based method can be applied for a quick assessment of flood vulnerability of bridges in any flood-prone region of interest.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.7-18
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• 2006

This study aims to analyze the illumination effects of bridges across the Han River. For the purpose, 8 bridges were selected. Field survey and measurements were performed, and the physical values such as luminance, color temperature and chromaticity were measured by Radiant Imaging Prometric 1400 Color. The results of the study are as follows; (1) Metal halide lamp, sodium lamp and LED(Light Emitting Diode) of various colors, are used in illuminating the bridges and create color contrasts and color changing by color filters. (2) Luminance contrast of the illuminated bridges affects 'modeling' and 'spare sense' of bridges, and it might improve people's preference and impression. (3) Color temperature of the illuminated bridges is influenced by 'color of bridge', 'material of bridge' and, 'color temperature and color of light sources'. (4) 'Structure of bridges' and 'luminaires' influence on the physical feature of the bridges. Especially, illumination of the bridges shows resemblant patterns by 'structure of bridges'.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.99-109
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• 1980

An investigation was made Into 1,357 fixed bridges which had been performed at the Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, Seoul National University Hospital from 1973 to 1979. The purpose of this investigation was to establish a basic reference of the treatment with fixed bridges by obtaining statistical conclusions from the data concerning the patients who had been treated with fixed bridges. The following conclusions were obtained; 1. The ratio of the fixed bridges made on the maxillae to those made on the mandible was 1:1. 2. The cases of fixed bridges with one pontic were the most frequent, i.e., 946 cases out of total 1,357 cases, which were 69.7% of the total. 3. As the number of missing teeth increased, the number of the relevant cases of fixed bridges decreased. 4. The most frequent age group of the patients who had been treated with fixed bridges was the twenties, which was 40.8% of the total. As the age of the patients increased, the number of corresponding cases of fixed bridges decreased. 5. Most of the fixed bridges with more than three pontics were made at the anterior portion samely on the maxilla and on the mandible. 6. As for the retainers, the porcelain fused to metal crown and the partial veneer crown were frequently used at the anterior portion, while the full veneer crown was frequently used and the inlay and the attachment were used in some cases at the posterior portion. The locations of fixed bridges in the order of their frequency were: canine, lateral incisor, second bicuspid, central incisor, second molar, first bicuspid, first molar, and third molar on the maxilla; second bicuspid, second molar, first bicuspid, first molar, canine, third molar, lateral incisor, and central incisor on the mandible.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.51-69
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• 2023

In tied-arch bridges, a properly designed connection between the arch and the deck may become crucial, since the forces in the structure may be significantly reduced. This implies substantial material savings and, consequently, cheaper constructions. The introduction of the Nielsen cable arrangement (composed of V-shaped inclined hangers) in the last century was a milestone because it was able to reduce deflections and bending moments both in the arch and in the deck. So far, the Nielsen cable arrangement has proven to be successful in traditional vertical arch bridges. However, despite its advantages, it has not been widely applied to spatial arch bridges. Thus, this article analyses the difference between the structural behavior of spatial arch bridges with Nielsen-type cable arrangements with respect to those with classical vertical hanger configurations. The main goal is to verify whether the known effectiveness of the Nielsen cable arrangement for classical arch bridges is still preserved when applied to spatial arch bridges. In order to achieve this objective, and as the first part of our study, a set of different all-steel bridges composed of vertical and inclined arches with straight decks have been compared for both cable arrangements. As a major conclusion, for planar vertical arch bridges, the Nielsen-type cable arrangement is always the most effective. In addition, it also seems that, for spatial arch bridges composed of a straight deck and an inclined arch, it still keeps most of its effectiveness as long as the arch is moderately inclined.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.954-959
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• 2011

The intensity of train load in the railway bridges is relatively large and continues to repeat. Also, the speed of vehicles is very fast. For these reasons, analyses for dynamic response under train load are necessary in the railway bridges. In other words, the dynamic characteristics of steel-composite bridges under train loads should be investigated considering effects of dynamic responses such as vibrations, repeated displacements and acceleration of bridge members. Therefore, in this study, static and dynamic analyses for the steel box girder bridges and I-girder bridges are carried out. Based on analyses results, we investigated and compared dynamic response considering the impact factors of domestic and foreign design specifications.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.273-289
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• 2011

The vibration response of the bridges under the moving vehicular load is of importance for engineers to estimate the serviceability of existing bridges and to design new bridges. This paper deals with the three dimensional vibration analysis of prestressed concrete bridges under moving vehicles. The prestressed bridges are modeled by four-node isoparametric flat shell elements with the transverse shearing deformation taken into account. The usual five degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) per node of the element are appended with a drilling DOF to accommodate the transformation of the local stiffness and mass matrices to the global coordinates. The vehicle is modeled as a single or two-DOF system. A single-span prestressed Tee beam and two-span prestressed box-girder bridge are studied as the two numerical examples. The effects of prestress forces on the natural frequencies and dynamic responses of the bridges are investigated.