• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.431-444
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• 2016

This paper was written in the context of a benchmark study promoted by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University using data samples collected in an instrumented cable-stayed bridge. The main goal of the benchmark test was to study the identification of the bridge modes of vibration under different wind conditions. In this contribution, the tools developed at ViBest/FEUP for automated data processing of setups collected by dynamic monitoring systems are presented and applied to the data made available in the context of the benchmark study. The applied tools are based on parametric output only modal identification methods combined with clustering algorithms. The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms succeeded to automatically identify the modes with relevant contribution for the bridge response under different wind conditions.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.20-29
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• 2022

The operational modal analysis (OMA) technique, which extracts the modal parameters of a structural system using ambient vibrations, has been actively developed as a field of structural health monitoring of cable-supported bridges. In this paper, the short and long-term modal parameters of a cable-stayed bridge were evaluated using the acceleration data obtained from the two ambient vibration tests (AVTs) and three years of continuous measurements. A total of 27 vertical modes and 1 lateral mode in the range 0.1 ~ 2.5 Hz were extracted from the high-resolution AVTs which were conducted in the 6th and 19th years after its completion. Existing OMA methods such as Peak-Picking (PP), Eigensystem Realization Algorithm with Data Correlation (ERADC), Frequency Domain Decomposition (FDD) and Time Domain Decomposition (TDD) were applied for modal parameters extraction, and it was confirmed that there was no significant difference between the applied methods. From the correlation analysis between long-term natural frequencies and environmental factors, it was confirmed that temperature change is the dominant factor influencing natural frequency fluctuations. It was revealed that the decreased natural frequencies of the bridge were not due to changes in structural performance and integrity, but to the environmental effects caused by the temperature difference between the two AVTs. In addition, when the TDD technique is applied, the accuracy of extracted mode shapes is improved by adding a proposed algorithm that normalizes the sequence so that the autocorrelations at zero lag equal 1.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.119-128
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• 2012

In this study, experimental vibration tests are performed on a real full-scale railway steel plate girder bridge, which resides in open-space environments. Using experimental modal analysis techniques, the modal parameters of the railway steel plate girder bridge yielded by the modal testing of the impact hammer are compared and investigated with the natural frequencies and mode shapes obtained by finite element analysis. This work focuses on the application of model updating techniques to measured experimental data and output-only data from an analytical vibration study that takes into account various geometric and material properties of the bridge members. A finite element model of the railway bridge structure is used to verify the modal experimental results. It is subsequently updated using the corresponding modal identification technique. The basic database is provided to evaluate damage, which can be determined based on the changes in the element properties, resulting from the process of updating the finite element model benchmark and experimental data.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.761-771
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• 2008

When the crossing frequency of a train meets the natural frequency of a railway bridge, the bridge is bound to become resonant. There are few available time response samples involving a train that passes a bridge at high speed. Very effective modal-parameter extraction techniques for such special high-speed railway bridge conditions are introduced in this paper. Utilizing the cross-correlations of the free-vibration responses after the train passes, mode shapes and the temporal modal parameters (e.g., natural frequency and damping ratio) are extracted using the TDD and SI techniques, respectively. This approach has been applied to a two-span steel composite bridge in the Kyung-Bu high-speed railway system. The estimation results were compared with those obtained using the existing methods. The results fully coincide with those that were extracted using the existing aforementioned technique.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.523-538
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• 2017

A series of field vibration tests are conducted on the Runyang Suspension Bridge during both the construction and operational stages. The purpose of this study is devoted to the analysis of the dynamic characteristics of the suspension tower. After the tower was erected, an array of accelerometers was deployed to study the evolution of its modal parameters during the construction process. Dynamic tests were first performed under the freestanding tower condition and then under the tower-cable condition after the superstructure was installed. Based on the identified modal parameters, the effect of the pile-soil-structure interaction on dynamic characteristics of the suspension tower is investigated. Moreover, the stiffness of the pile foundation is successfully identified using a probabilistic finite model updating method. Furthermore, challenges of identifying the dynamic properties of the tower from the coupled responses of the tower-cable system are discussed in detail. It's found that compared with the identified results from the freestanding tower, the longitudinal and torsional natural frequencies of the tower in the tower-cable system have changed significantly, while the lateral mode frequencies change slightly. The identified modal results from measurements by the structural health monitoring system further confirmed that the vibrations of the bridge subsystems (i.e., the tower, the suspended deck and the main cable) are strongly coupled with one another.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.171-185
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• 2018

Maintenance of deteriorated bridge structures has always been one of the challenging issues in developing countries as it is directly related to daily life of people including trade and economy. An effective maintenance strategy is highly dependent on timely inspections on the bridge health condition. This study is intended to investigate an approach for detecting bridge damage for the long-term health monitoring by use of copula theory. Long-term measured data for the seven-span plate-Gerber bridge is investigated. Autoregressive time series models constructed for the observed accelerations taken from the bridge are utilized for the computation of damage indicator for the bridge. The copula model is used to analyze the statistical changes associated with the modal parameters. The changes in the modal parameters with the time are identified by the copula statistical properties. Applicability of the proposed method is also discussed based on a comparison study among other approaches.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.409-420
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• 2002

This paper proposed a technique of structural re-analysis for the evaluation of dynamic responses of bridge structure under moving loads using experimental modal results. For successful structural re-analysis, it is required to have accurate estimation techniques of the modal characteristics of bridge structures. The natural frequencies and mode shapes were identified by direct fourier analysis techniques and damping ratios by the random decrement method, respectively. An interpolation method was also proposed for the extension of mode shape measured on limited DOFs. Second, the structural reanalysis was performed using moving mass model and identified modal parameters. The results from the reanalysis show that the proposed technique is very reasonable to evaluate the actual behavior of bridge structures under moving loads.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.83-101
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• 2005

This paper summarizes the application of a rational methodology for the structural assessment of older reinforced concrete Tunisian bridges. This methodology is based on ambient vibration measurement of the bridge, identification of the structure's modal signature and finite element model updating. The selected case study is the Boujnah bridge of the Tunis-Msaken Highway. This bridge is made of a continuous four-span simply supported reinforced concrete slab without girders resting on elastomeric bearings at each support. Ambient vibration tests were conducted on the bridge using a data acquisition system with nine force-balance accelerometers placed at selected locations of the bridge. The Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition technique was applied to extract the dynamic characteristics of the bridge. The finite element model was updated in order to obtain a reasonable correlation between experimental and numerical modal properties. For the model updating part of the study, the parameters selected for the updating process include the concrete modulus of elasticity, the elastic bearing stiffness and the foundation spring stiffnesses. The primary objective of the paper is to demonstrate the use of the Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition technique combined with model updating to provide data that could be used to assess the structural condition of the selected bridge. The application of the proposed methodology led to a relatively faithful linear elastic model of the bridge in its present condition.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1995.10a
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• pp.87-94
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• 1995

In highway bridges robust damage detection exercises are mandatory to secure the safety of the structures from hostile environmental conditions such as fatigue earthquake, wind, and corrosion. This paper presents a damage detection practice in a full-scale highway bridge by utilizing modal response parameters of as-built and damaged states of the structure. first the test structure is described and modal testing procedures are outlined. Next, a damage detection model which yields information on the location of damage directly from changes in mode shapes is outlined. Finally, the damage detection model is implemented to predict the location of damage in the ten structure. From the results, it was found that the damage detection model accurately locates damage in the test structures for which modal parameters of only a single mode are available for pre-damage (as-built) and post-damage stages.

• 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.