• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.187-206
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• 2011

This paper uses dynamic computer simulation techniques to develop and apply a multi-criteria procedure using non-destructive vibration-based parameters for damage assessment in truss bridges. In addition to changes in natural frequencies, this procedure incorporates two parameters, namely the modal flexibility and the modal strain energy. Using the numerically simulated modal data obtained through finite element analysis of the healthy and damaged bridge models, algorithms based on modal flexibility and modal strain energy changes before and after damage are obtained and used as the indices for the assessment of structural health state. The application of the two proposed parameters to truss-type structures is limited in the literature. The proposed multi-criteria based damage assessment procedure is therefore developed and applied to truss bridges. The application of the approach is demonstrated through numerical simulation studies of a single-span simply supported truss bridge with eight damage scenarios corresponding to different types of deck and truss damage. Results show that the proposed multi-criteria method is effective in damage assessment in this type of bridge superstructure.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.161-171
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• 2015

A series of tests was conducted for full-scale single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridges using a system of multiple shaking tables. The 2-span bridge length was 28 m, and the pylon height was 10.2 m. 4 different base conditions were considered: the fixed condition, RB (rubber bearings), LRB (lead rubber bearings), and HDRB (high damping rubber bearings). Based on investigation of the seismic response, the accelerations and displacements in the axial direction of the isolated bridge were increased compared to non-isolated case. However, the strain of the pylon was decreased, because the major mode of the structure was changed to translation for the axial direction due to the dynamic mass. The response of the cable bridge could differ from the desired response according to the locations and characteristics of the seismic isolator. Therefore, caution is required in the design and prediction in regard to the location and behavior of the seismic isolator.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.369-379
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• 2009

The sudden collapse of Interstate 35 Bridge in Minneapolis gave a wake-up call to US municipalities to re-evaluate aging bridges. In this situation, structural health monitoring (SHM) technology can provide the essential help needed for monitoring and maintaining the nation's infrastructure. Monitoring long span bridges such as cable-stayed bridges effectively requires the use of a large number of sensors. In this article, we introduce a probabilistic approach to identify optimal locations of sensors to enhance damage detection. Probability distribution functions are established using an artificial neural network trained using a priori knowledge of damage locations. The optimal number of sensors is identified using multi-objective optimization that simultaneously considers information entropy and sensor cost-objective functions. Luling Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge over the Mississippi River, is selected as a case study to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.19-27
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• 2002

Dynamic responses of a multi-span simply supported bridge are investigated to examine the effect of bearing damage under seismic excitations. The damaged bearings are modeled as sliding elements with friction between the superstructure and the top of the pier. Various values of the friction coefficients are examined to figure out the effect of damaged bearings with various levels of peak ground accelerations. It is found that the global seismic behaviors are significantly influenced by the occurrence of bearing damage. It should be noticed that the most possible location of unseating failure of superstructures differs from that in the bridge model without considering the bearing damage. It can be concluded that the bearing damage may play the major role in the unseating failure of a bridge system, so that the damage of bearings should be included to achieve more rational seismic safety evaluation.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.449-466
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• 2019

Cable-stayed bridges are attractive due to their beauty, reducing material consumption, less harm to the environment and so on, in comparison with other kinds of bridges. As a massive structure with long period and low damping (0.3 to 2%) under many dynamic loads, these bridges are susceptible to fatigue, serviceability disorder, damage or even collapse. Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) is a suitable controlling system to reduce the vibrations and prevent the threats in such bridges. In this paper, Multi Tuned Mass Damper (MTMD) system is added to the Ahvaz cable stayed Bridge in Iran, to reduce its seismic vibrations. First, the bridge is modeled in SAP2000 followed with result verification. Dead and live loads and the moving loads have been assigned to the bridge. Then the finite element model is developed in OpenSees, with the goal of running a nonlinear time-history analysis. Three far-field and three near-field earthquake records are imposed to the model after scaling to the PGA of 0.25 g, 0.4 g, 0.55 g and 0.7 g. Two MTMD systems, passive and active, with the number of TMDs from 1 to 8, are placed in specific points of the main span of bridge, adding a total mass ratio of 1 to 10% to the bridge. The parameters of the TMDs are optimized using Genetic Algorithm (GA). Also, the optimum force for active control is achieved by Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC). The results showed that the maximum displacement of the center of the bridge main span reduced 33% and 48% respectively by adding passive and active MTMD systems. The RMS of displacement reduced 37% and 47%, the velocity 36% and 42% and also the base shear in pylons, 27% and 47%, respectively by adding passive and active systems, in the best cases.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.80 no.6
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• pp.749-765
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• 2021

Suspension bridges bear large eccentric live loads in rush hours when most vehicles travel in one direction on the left or right side of the bridge. With the increasing number and weight of vehicles and the girder widening, the eccentric live load effect on the bridge behavior, including bending and distortion of the main girder, gets more pronounced, even jeopardizing bridge safety. This study proposes an analytical algorithm based on multi-catenary theory for predicting the suspension bridge responses to eccentric live load via the nonlinear generalized reduced gradient method. A set of governing equations is derived to solve the following unknown values: the girder rigid-body displacement in the longitudinal direction; the horizontal projection lengths of main cable's segments; the parameters of catenary equations and horizontal forces of the side span cable segments and the leftmost segments of middle span cables; the suspender tensions and the bearing reactions. Then girder's responses, including rigid-body displacement in the longitudinal direction, deflections, and torsion angles; suspenders' responses, including the suspender tensions and the hanging point displacements; main cables' responses, including the horizontal forces of each segment; and the longitudinal displacement of the pylons' tower top under eccentric load can be calculated. The response of an exemplar suspension bridge with three spans of 168, 548, and 168 m is calculated by the proposed analytical method and the finite element method in two eccentric live load cases, and their results prove the former's feasibility. The nonuniform distribution of the live load in the lateral direction is shown to impose a greater threat to suspension bridge safety than that in the longitudinal direction, while some other specific features revealed by the proposed method are discussed in detail.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.683-701
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• 2016

Safety is the prime concern for a high-speed railway bridge, especially when it is subjected to a collision. In this paper, an analysis framework for the dynamic responses of train-bridge systems under collision load is established. A multi-body dynamics model is employed to represent the moving vehicle, the modal decomposition method is adopted to describe the bridge structure, and the time history of a collision load is used as the external load on the train-bridge system. A (180+216+180) m continuous steel trussed-arch bridge is considered as an illustrative case study. With the vessel collision acting on the pier, the displacements and accelerations at the pier-top and the mid-span of the bridge are calculated when a CRH2 high-speed train running through the bridge, and the influence of bridge vibration on the running safety indices of the train, including derailment factors, offload factors and lateral wheel/rail forces, are analyzed. The results demonstrate that under the vessel collision load, the dynamic responses of the bridge are greatly enlarged, threatening the running safety of high-speed train on the bridge, which is affected by both the collision intensity and the train speed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.705-719
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• 2014

Composite steel-concrete box girders are frequently used in bridge construction for their economic and structural advantages. An integrated metaheuristic based optimization procedure is proposed for discrete size optimization of straight multi-span steel box girders with the objective of minimizing the self-weight of girder. The metaheuristic algorithm of choice is the Cuckoo Search (CS) algorithm. The optimum design of a box girder is characterized by geometry, serviceability and ultimate limit states specified by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Size optimization of a practical design example investigates the efficiency of this optimization approach and leads to around 15% of saving in material.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.193-200
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• 2017

To overcome the difficulty of performing multi-point response spectrum analysis for engineering structures under spatially varying ground motions (SVGM) using the general finite element code such as ANSYS, an approach has been developed by improving the modelling of the input ground motions in the spectral analysis. Based on the stochastic vibration analyses, the cross-power spectral density (c-PSD) matrix is adopted to model the stationary SVGM. The design response spectra are converted into the corresponding PSD model with appropriate coherency functions and apparent wave velocities. Then elements of c-PSD matrix are summarized in the row and the PSD matrix is transformed into the response spectra for a general spectral analysis. A long-span high-pier bridge under multiple support excitations is analyzed using the proposed approach considering the incoherence, wave-passage and site-response effects. The proposed approach is deemed to be an efficient numerical method that can be used for seismic analysis of large engineering structures under SVGM.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.2A
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• pp.223-231
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• 2008

This research presents a new maintenance planning method for deteriorating bridges considering simultaneously the minimization of the maintenance cost and maximization of the bridge performance. Optimal maintenance planning is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem that treats the maintenance cost as well as the bridge performance such as the condition grade of the bridge deck, girder and pier. To effectively address the multi-objective optimization problem and decision making process for the obtained solution set, we apply a genetic algorithm as a numerical searching technique and adopt a preference-based optimization method. A numerical example for a typical 5-span prestressed concrete girder bridge shows that the maintenance cost and the performance of the bridge can be balanced reasonably without severe trade-offs between each objectives.