• Wind and Structures
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.479-494
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• 2013

The vehicle-induced aerodynamic loads bring vibrations to some of the highway sound barriers, for they are designed in consideration of natural wind loads only. As references to the previous field experiment, the vehicle-induced aerodynamic loads is investigated by numerical and theoretical methodologies. The numerical results are compared to the experimental one and proved to be available. By analyzing the flow field achieved in the numerical simulation, the potential flow is proved to be the main source of both head and wake impact, so the theoretical model is also validated. The results from the two methodologies show that the shorter vehicle length would produce larger negative pressure peak as the head impact and wake impact overlapping with each other, and together with the fast speed, it would lead to a wake without vortex shedding, which makes the potential hypothesis more accurate. It also proves the expectation in vehicle-induced aerodynamic loads on Highway Sound Barriers Part1: Field Experiment, that max/min pressure is proportional to the square of vehicle speed and inverse square of separation distance.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.379-395
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• 2013

Aim of this paper is to apply to a steel truss bridge a methodology that takes into account the consequences of extreme loads on structures, focusing on the influence that the loss of primary elements has on the structural load bearing capacity. In this context, the topic of structural robustness, intended as the capacity of a structure to withstand damages without suffering disproportionate response to the triggering causes while maintaining an assigned level of performance, becomes relevant. In the first part of this study, a brief literature review of the topics of structural robustness, collapse resistance and progressive collapse takes place, focusing on steel structures. In the second part, a procedure for the evaluation of the structural response and robustness of skeletal structures under impact loads is presented and tested in simple structures. Following that, an application focuses on a case study bridge, the extensively studied I-35W Minneapolis steel truss bridge. The bridge, which had a structural design particularly sensitive to extreme loads, recently collapsed for a series of other reasons, in part still under investigation. The applied method aims, in addition to the robustness assessment, at increasing the collapse resistance of the structure by testing alternative designs.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.585-599
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• 2023

Field monitoring techniques offer an attractive approach for understanding bridge behavior under in-service loads. However, the investigations on bridge behavior under high-speed train load using field monitoring data are limited. The focus of this study is to explore the structural behavior of an in-service long-span steel truss arch bridge based on field monitoring data. First, the natural frequencies of the structure, as well as the train driving frequencies, are extracted. Then, the train-induced bearing displacement and structural strain are explored to identify the effects of train loads and bearings. Subsequently, a sensitivity analysis is performed for the impact factor of strain responses with respect to the train speed, train weight, and temperature to identify the fundamental issues affecting these responses. Additionally, a similar sensitivity analysis is conducted for the peak acceleration. The results indicate that the friction force in bearings provides residual deformations when two consecutive trains are in opposite directions. In addition, the impact factor and peak acceleration are primarily affected by train speed, particularly near train speeds that result in the resonance of the bridge response. The results can provide additional insight into the behavior of the long-span steel truss bridges under in-service high-speed train loads.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.78 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2021

In this paper, the effects of Tuned Mass dampers (TMDs) on the reduction of the vertical vibrations of a real horizontally curved steel box-girder bridge due to different traffic loads are numerically investigated. The performance of TMDs to reduce the bridge vibrations can be affected by the parameters such as dynamic characteristics of TMDs, the location of TMDs, the speed and weight of vehicles. In the first part of this study, the effects of mass ratio, damping percentage, frequency ratio, and location of TMDs on the performance of TMDs to decrease vertical vibrations of different sections of bridge deck are evaluated. In the second part, the performance of TMD is investigated for different speeds and weights of traffic loads. Results show that the mass ratio of TMDs is the more effective parameter in reducing imposed vertical vibration in comparison with the damping ratio. Furthermore, it is found that TMD is very sensitive to its tuned frequency, i.e., with a little deviation from a suitable frequency, the expected performance of TMD significantly decreased. TMDs have a positive and considerable performance at certain vehicle speeds and this performance declines when the weight of traffic loads is increased. Besides, the results reveal that the highest impact of TMD on the reduction of the vertical vibrations is when free vibrations occur for the bridge deck. In that case, maximum reductions of 24% and 59% are reported in the vertical acceleration of the bridge deck for the forced and free vibration amplitudes, respectively. The maximum reduction of 13% is also obtained for the maximum displacement of the bridge deck. The results are mainly related to the resonance condition.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.90-97
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• 2016

Purpose: Majority of bridges and roads in Gangwon Province have been carrying loads associated with heavy materials such as rocks, mining products, and cement. This location-specific live loads have contributed to the present situation of overloading, compared to other provinces in Korea. However, the bridges in Gangwon province are designed by national bridge design specification, without considering the location-specific live load characteristics. Therefore, this study focuses on the real traffic data accumulated on regional weighing station to verify the live load characteristics, including actual live load gross vehicle weight, axle weight axle spacings, and number of trucks. Methods: In order to take into account the location specific live load, a governmental weigh station (38th national highway Miro) have been selected and the passing truck data are processed. Based on the truck survey, trucks are categorized into 3 different shapes, and each shape has been idealized into normal distribution. Then, the resulting survey data are processed to predict the target maximum live load values, including the axle loads and gross vehicle weights in 75 years service life span. Results: The results are compared to the nationally used DB-24 live loads, and the results show that nationally recognized DB-24 live load does not sufficiently represent real traffic in mountaineous region in Gangwon province. Conclusion: The comparison results in the recommendation of location-specific live load that should be taken into account for bridge design and evaluation.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.597-604
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• 2011

This research analyzed the runoff patterns and estimated unit loads of selected pollutatnts using monitored data conducted for three years in a bridge area. Three estimating methods; the arithmetic average method, the regression method and the rainfall class method were used to estimate the unit load. Results of three estimating methods were compared with the unit pollutant loads from landuses in Korea and the unit pollutant loads from urban watersheds in Milwaukee, USA. Unit load using the arithmetic mean method were found to be overestimated. In terms of TSS, unit loads of two estimate were half lower than that of USA. Estimated TN and TP unit loads of three estimate were lower than that of Ministry of Environment in Korea.

• KCI Concrete Journal
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.35-46
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• 2000

A research program was initiated at the University of Colorado at Boulder to develop computational models that can be used for seismic risk assessments. To assess the overall performance of bridge structures including the nonlinear effects of bridge piers, the research focused on two levels of capabilities, i.e. global and local pier levels. A 3-D concrete model was used to evaluate the behavior of individual piers under combined axial, bending, and shear loadings using 3-D finite element analysis. Whereby the response curve reached the peak strength of the R/C column under the constant axial and monotonically increasing lateral loads. Experimental results on reinforced concrete bridge piers, which were obtained at the University of California at San Diego were used to validate the seismic performance of bridge piers at the two levels, globa1 and local.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2016

Severe fatigue and noise problems of modular bridge expansion joints (MBEJs) are often induced by vehicle loads. However, the dynamic characteristics of single-support MBEJs have yet to be further investigated. To better understand the vibration mechanism of single-support MBEJs under vehicle loads, a 3D finite element model of single-support MBEJ with five center beams is built. Successive vehicle loads are given out and the vertical dynamic responses of each center beams are analyzed under the successive loads. Dynamic amplification factors (DAFs) are also calculated along with increasing vehicle velocities from 20 km/h to 120 km/h with an interval 20 km/h. The research reveals the vibration mechanism of the single-support MBEJs considering coupled center beam resonance, which shows that dynamic responses of a given center beam will be influenced by the neighboring center beams due to their rebound after the vehicle wheels depart. Maximal DAF 1.5 appears at 120 km/h on the second center beam. The research results can be utilized for reference in the design, operation and maintenance of single-support MBEJs.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.637-647
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• 2012

Bridges are ones of fundamental facilities for roads which become social overhead capital facilities and they are designed to get safety in their life cycles. However as time passes, bridge can be damaged by changes of external force and traffic environments. Therefore, a bridge should be repaired and maintained for extending its life cycle. The working load on a bridge is one of the most important factors for safety, it should be calculated accurately. The most important load among working loads is live load by a vehicle. Thus, the travel characteristics and weight of vehicle can be useful for bridge maintenance if they were estimated with high reliability. In this study, a B-WIM system in which the bridge is used for a scale have been developed for measuring the vehicle loads without the vehicle stop. The vehicle loads can be estimated by the developed B-WIM system with the reaction responses from the supporting points. The algorithm of developed B-WIM system have been verified by numerical analysis.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.371-382
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• 2023

Box girder bridges are now widely used in bridge construction, and it is necessary to perform load rating regularly to evaluate the load capacity of box girder bridges. Load testing is a common measure for load rating. However, the bridge must be loaded by many trucks under different loading conditions, which is time-consuming and laborious. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a load rating method for box girder bridges based on rapid moving loads testing. The method includes three steps. First, the quasi-influence factors of the bridge are obtained by crossing the bridge with rapidly moving loads, and the structural modal parameters are simultaneously obtained from the dynamic data to supplement. Second, an objective function is constructed, consisting of the quasi-influence factors at several measurement points and structural modal parameters. The finite element model for load rating is then updated based on the Rosenbrock method. Third, on this basis, a load rating method is proposed using the updated model. The load rating method proposed in this paper can considerably reduce the time duration of traditional static load testing and effectively utilize the dynamic and static properties of box girder bridges to obtain an accurate finite element model. The load capacity obtained based on the updated model can avoid the inconsistency of the evaluation results for the different structural members using the adjustment factors specified in codes.