• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.939-957
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• 2015

In this paper, a new approach based on the continuum model is proposed to estimate the main cable tension force of suspension bridges from measured natural frequencies. This approach considered the vertical vibration of a main cable hinged at both towers and supported by an elastic girder and hangers along its entire length. The equation reflected the relationship between vibration frequency and horizontal tension force of a main cable was derived. To avoid to generate the additional cable tension force by sag-extensibility, the analytical solution of characteristic equation for anti-symmetrical vibration mode of the main cable was calculated. Then, the estimation of main cable tension force was carried out by anti-symmetric characteristic frequency vector. The errors of estimation due to characteristic frequency deviations were investigated through numerical analysis of the main cable of Taizhou Bridge. A field experiment was conducted to verify the proposed approach. Through measuring and analyzing the responses of a main cable of Taizhou Bridge under ambient excitation, the horizontal tension force of the main cable was identified from the first three odd frequencies. It is shown that the estimated results agree well with the designed values. The proposed approach can be used to conduct the long-term health monitoring of suspension bridges.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.66-73
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• 2024

Stay-cable is one of the most important load carrying members in cable-stayed bridges. Monitoring structural integrity of stay-cables is crucial for evaluating the structural condition of the cable-stayed bridge. For stay-cables, tension and damping ratio are estimated based on modal properties as a measure of structural integrity. Since the monitoring system continuously measures the vibration for the long-term period, data acquisition systems should be stable and power-efficiency as the hardware system. In addition, massive signals from the data acquisition systems are continuously generated, so that automated analysis system should be indispensable. In order to fulfill these purpose simultaneously, this study presents an autonomous cable monitoring system based on domain-knowledge using IoT for continuous cable monitoring systems of cable-stayed bridges. An IoT system was developed to provide effective and power-efficient data acquisition and on-board processing capability for Edge-computing. Automated peak-picking algorithm using domain knowledge was embedded to the IoT system in order to analyze massive data from continuous monitoring automatically and reliably. To evaluate its operational performance in real fields, the developed autonomous monitoring system has been installed on a cable-stayed bridge in Korea. The operational performance are confirmed and validated by comparing with the existing system in terms of data transmission rates, accuracy and efficiency of tension estimation.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.349-375
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• 2016

The tension of an arch bridge hanger is estimated using a number of experimentally identified modal frequencies. The hanger is connected through metallic plates to the bridge deck and arch. Two different categories of model classes are considered to simulate the vibrations of the hanger: an analytical model based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, and a high-fidelity finite element (FE) model. A Bayesian parameter estimation and model selection method is used to discriminate between models, select the best model, and estimate the hanger tension and its uncertainty. It is demonstrated that the end plate connections and boundary conditions of the hanger due to the flexibility of the deck/arch significantly affect the estimate of the axial load and its uncertainty. A fixed-end high fidelity FE model of the hanger underestimates the hanger tension by more than 20 compared to a baseline FE model with flexible supports. Simplified beam models can give fairly accurate results, close to the ones obtained from the high fidelity FE model with flexible support conditions, provided that the concept of equivalent length is introduced and/or end rotational springs are included to simulate the flexibility of the hanger ends. The effect of the number of experimentally identified modal frequencies on the estimates of the hanger tension and its uncertainty is investigated.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.363-380
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• 2005

The cable tension plays an important role in the construction, assessment and long-term health monitoring of cable structures. The cable vibration equation is nonlinear if cable sag and bending stiffness are included. The engineering implementation of a vibration-based cable tension evaluation is mostly carried out by the simple taut string theory. However, the simple theory may cause unacceptable errors in many applications since the cable sag and bending stiffness are ignored. From the practical point of view, it is necessary to have empirical formulas if they are simple and yet accurate. Based on the solutions by means of energy method and fitting the exact solutions of cable vibration equations where the cable sag and bending stiffness are respectively taken into account, the empirical formulas are proposed in the paper to estimate cable tension based on the cable fundamental frequency only. The applicability of the proposed formulas is verified by comparing the results with those reported in the literatures and with the experimental results carried out on the stay cables in the laboratory. The proposed formulas are straightforward and they are convenient for practical engineers to fast estimate the cable tension by the cable fundamental frequency.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.361-379
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• 2023

In cable structure maintenance, particularly for cable-stayed bridges, cable safety assessment relies on estimating cable tension. Conventionally, in Japan, cable tension is estimated from the natural frequencies of the cable using the higher-order vibration method. In recent years, dampers have been installed on cables to reduce cable vibrations. Because the higher-order vibration method is a method for damper-free cables, the damper must be removed to measure the natural frequencies of a cable without a damper. However, cables on some cable-stayed bridges have two dampers: one on the girder side and another on the tower side. Notably, removing and reinstalling the damper on the tower side are considerably more time- and labor-intensive. This paper introduces a tension estimation method for cables with two dampers, using natural frequencies. The proposed method was validated through numerical simulation and experiment. In the numerical tests, without measurement error in the natural frequencies, the maximum estimation error among 100 models was 3.3%. With measurement error of 2%, the average estimation error was within 5%, with a maximum error of 9%. The proposed method has high accuracy because the higher-order vibration method for a damper-free cable still has an estimation error of 5%. The experimental verification emphasizes the importance of accurate damper modeling, highlighting potential discrepancies between existing damper design formula and actual damper behavior. By revising the damper formula, the proposed method achieved accurate cable tension estimation, with a maximum estimation error of approximately 10%.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.129-136
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• 1998

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.41-51
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• 2022

Cables are critical components of cable-stayed bridges. A structural health monitoring system provides real-time cable tension recording for cable health monitoring. However, the measurement data involve multiple sources of variability, i.e., varying environmental and operational factors, which increase the complexity of cable condition monitoring. In this study, a one-class classification method is developed for cable condition assessment using Bayesian factor analysis (FA). The single-peaked vehicle-induced cable tension is assumed to be relevant to vehicle positions and weights. The Bayesian FA is adopted to establish the correlation model between cable tensions and vehicles. Vehicle weights are assumed to be latent variables and the influences of different transverse positions are quantified by coefficient parameters. The Bayesian theorem is employed to estimate the parameters and variables automatically, and the damage index is defined on the basis of the well-trained model. The proposed method is applied to one cable-stayed bridge for cable damage detection. Significant deviations of the damage indices of Cable SJS11 were observed, indicating a damaged condition in 2011. This study develops a novel method to evaluate the health condition of individual cable using the FA in the Bayesian framework. Only vehicle-induced cable tensions are used and there is no need to monitor the vehicles. The entire process, including the data pre-processing, model training and damage index calculation of one cable, takes only 35 s, which is highly efficient.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.805-822
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• 2012

Offshore pipelines have to withstand combined actions of tension and bending during deepwater installation, which can possibly lead to elliptical buckle and even catastrophic failure of whole pipeline. A 2D theoretical model initially proposed by Kyriakides and his co-workers which carried out buckling response analysis of elastic-plastic tubes under various load combinations, is further applied to investigate buckling behavior of offshore pipelines under combined tension and bending. In association with practical pipe-laying circumstances, two different types of loadings, i.e., bent over a rigid surface in the presence of tension, and bent freely in the presence of tension, are taken into account in present study. In order to verify the accuracy of the theoretical model, numerical simulations are implemented using a 3D finite element model within the framework of ABAQUS. Excellent agreement between the results validates the effectiveness of this theoretical method. Then, this theoretical model is used to study the effects of some important factors such as load type, loading path, geometric parameters and material properties etc. on buckling behavior of the pipes. Based upon parametric studies, a few significant conclusions are drawn, which offer a theoretical reference for design and installation monitoring of deepwater pipelines.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.93-100
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• 2014

This study presents the recomposition of MBM (measurement-based model) using natural frequencies and modes from the usually measured data, and the evaluation of cable tension in service from the analysis results upon MBM of existing CSB (cable stayed bridge). The cable tension is shown to be different according to the position attached to cable and loading type. The measured cable tensions are not different distinctly according to position attached cable under dead and live loads, but larger than those under design loads. The distribution of cable tension calculated upon the MBM is similar to those of measured tension although the former is more than those of cable tension upon the design model. Considering to long-term behaviors of cable, therefore, the design of cable in CSB needs to apply the analysis results on MBM. For this purpose, future study needs lots of measured data and MBM is used to analyze the long-term behavior of cable in CSB.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2001.10c
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• pp.19-27
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• 2001

Early detection of premonitory symptom of slope movement ensures tremendous saving of lives and repair costs from catastrophic disaster. Therefore, it is essential to constantly monitor the performance and integrity of both reinforced and un-reinforced cut slopes. We developed a novel monitoring system by using tension wire sensors. It's advantages are highly sensitivity, simple installation, large displacement measurement, durability of system, capability of remote sensing. Real-time measurement of slope surface movement is shown graphically and it gives a warning when the monitored value exceeds a given threshold level so that any sign of abnormal slope movement can be easily perceived.