• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.5_6
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• pp.525-543
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• 2010

Testing and validation processes are critical tasks in developing a new hardware platform based on a new technology. This paper describes a series of experiments to evaluate the performance of a newly developed MEMS-based wireless sensor node as part of a wireless sensor network (WSN). The sensor node consists of a sensor board with four accelerometers, a thermometer and filtering and digitization units, and a MICAz mote for control, local computation and communication. The experiments include calibration and linearity tests for all sensor channels on the sensor boards, dynamic range tests to evaluate their performance when subjected to varying excitation, noise characteristic tests to quantify the noise floor of the sensor board, and temperature tests to study the behavior of the sensors under changing temperature profiles. The paper also describes a large-scale deployment of the WSN on a long-span suspension bridge, which lasted over three months and continuously collected ambient vibration and temperature data on the bridge. Statistical modal properties of a bridge tower are presented and compared with similar estimates from a previous deployment of sensors on the bridge and finite element models.

• 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.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.8
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• pp.905-920
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• 2010

Changes in temperature, loads and boundary conditions may have effects on the dynamic properties of large civil structures. Taking the Run Yang Suspension Bridge as an example, modal properties obtained from ambient vibration tests and from the structural health monitoring system of the bridge are used to identify and evaluate the modal parameter variability. Comparisons of these modal parameters reveal that several low-order modes experience a significant change in frequency from the completion of the bridge to its operation. However, the correlation analysis between measured modal parameters and the temperature shows that temperature has a slight influence on the low-order modal frequencies. Therefore, this paper focuses on the effects of the boundary conditions on the dynamic behaviors of the suspension bridge. An analytical model is proposed to perform a sensitivity analysis on modal parameters of the bridge concerning the stiffness of expansion joints located at two ends of bridge girders. It is concluded that the boundary conditions have a significant influence on the low-order modal parameters of the suspension bridge. In addition, the influence of vehicle load on modal parameters is also investigated based on the proposed model.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.231-244
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• 2017

This paper presents the structural identification of an arch dam model for the damaged, repaired and strengthened conditions under different water levels. For this aim, an arch dam-reservoir-foundation model has been constructed. Ambient vibration tests have been performed on the damaged, repaired and strengthened dam models for the empty reservoir (0 cm), 10 cm, 20 cm, 30 cm, 40 cm, 50 cm and full reservoir (60 cm) water levels to illustrate the effects of water levels on the dynamics characteristics. Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition Method in the frequency domain has been used to extract the dynamic characteristics. The dynamic characteristics obtained from the damaged, repaired and strengthened dam models show that the natural frequencies and damping ratios are considerably affected from the varying water level. The maximum differences between the frequencies for the empty and full reservoir are obtained as 16%, 33%, and 25% for damaged, repaired and strengthened model respectively. Mode shapes obtained from the all models are not affected by the increasing water level. Also, after the repairing and strengthening implementations, the natural frequencies of the arch dam model increase significantly. After strengthening, between 46-92% and 43-62% recovery in the frequencies are calculated for empty and full reservoir respectively. Apparently, after strengthening implementation, the mode shapes obtained are more acceptable and distinctive compared to those for the damaged model.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.191-205
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• 2023

In this paper, through operational modal analysis and ambient vibration tests, the dynamic characteristics of a multi-span simply-supported reinforced concrete highway bridge deck was determined and the results were used to assess the quality of construction of the individual spans. Supporting finite element (FE) models were created and analyzed according to the design drawings. After carrying out the dynamic tests and extracting the modal properties of the deck, the quality of construction was relatively assessed by comparing the results obtained from all the tests from the individual spans and the FE results. A comparison of the test results among the different spans showed a maximum difference value of around 9.3 percent between the superstructure's natural frequencies. These minor differences besides the obtained values of modal damping ratios, in which the differences were not more than 5 percent, can be resulted from suitable performance, health, and acceptable construction quality of the bridge.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.355-363
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• 2023

In safety assessment of a aged bridge, dynamic characteristics and displacement are directly related to the rigidity of the structural system, especially displacement is the most important factor as the physical quantity that the bridge user can directly detect. However, in order to measure the displacement of the bridge, it is difficult to install displacement sensors at the bottom of the bridge and conduct traffic blocking and loading tests, resulting in increased costs or impossible measurements depending on the bridge's environment. In this study, a method of measuring the displacement of a bridge using only accelerometers without installing displacement sensors and ambient vibration without a loading test was proposed. For the analysis of bridge dynamic characteristics and displacement using ambient vibration, the mode shape and natural frequency of the bridge were extracted using a TDD technique known to enable quick analysis with simple calculations, and the unit load displacement of the bridge was analyzed through flexibility analysis to calculate static displacement. To verify this proposed technology, an on-site test was conducted on C Bridge, and the results were compared with the measured values of the loading test and the structural analysis data. As a result, it was confirmed that the mode shape and natural frequency were 0.42 to 1.13 % error ratio, and the maximum displacement at the main span was 3.58 % error ratio. Therefore, the proposed technology can be used as a basis data for indirectly determine the safety of the bridge by comparing the amount of displacement compared to the design and analysis values by estimating the displacement of the bridge that could not be measured due to the difficulty of installing displacement sensors.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.55-62
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• 2018

In this study, natural period formular is presented for a RC shear wall structure with H-, T-, and L-shaped wall sections. The natural period formular proposed by Goel and Chopra and adopted in ASCE 7-10 was modified by using the ratio of the flange and web wall area. The natural periods of structures with H-shaped wall were numerically obtained, the results indicated that the ASCE 7-10 could not consider the natural period variation according to the length of the flange wall, but the proposed formula could do. Especially, ASCE 7-10 estimated much longer periods than eigenvalue analysis, and this implies that conservative seismic design is difficult. The periods by eigenvalue analysis exist between the upper and lower bounds given by the proposed formula, and conservative design is possible by using the proposed lower bound value. In order to verity the effectiveness of the proposed method, actual residential buildings with various types of flange walls are considered. Ambient vibration tests, eigenvalue analyses, and nonlinear dynamic analyses were conducted and the periods were compared with the values by ASCE 7-10 and the proposed formula. The results showed that the proposed formula could estimate more accurately the periods than ASCE 7-10.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2000.04b
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• pp.297-303
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• 2000

Damage estimation of a bridge structure is presented using ambient vibration data caused by the traffic loadings. The procedure consists of identification of the modal properties and assessment of the damage locations and severities. An experimental study is carried out on the bridge model subjected to vehicle loadings. Vertical accelerations of the bridge deck are measured at a limited number of locations. The modal parameters are identified from the free vibration signals extracted using the random decrement method. Then, the damage assessment is carried out based on the estimated modal parameters using the neural networks technique. The identified damage locations and severities agree reasonably well with the inflicted damages on the structure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.434-437
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• 2006

The expansion joints are installed for connecting the bridge segments. The ambient noise expansion joints are required in domestic market because of regulation on the noise neighboring traffic roads established by ministry of environment. Therefore, field tests for measuring environment noise depending on the types of the expansion joints are carried out in order to examine the effect of expansion joints into the environments. Related geometrical analysis has been performed.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.175-194
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• 2016

Based on the change of traditional viscoelastic damper structure, a brand-new damper is designed to control simultaneously the translational vibration and the rotational vibration for platforms. Experimental study has been carried out on the mechanical properties of viscoelastic material and on its multi-dimensional seismic response control effect of viscoelastic damper. Three types of viscoelastic dampers with different shapes of viscoelastic material are designed to test the influence of excited frequency, strain amplitude and ambient temperature on the mechanical property parameters such as circular dissipation per unit, equivalent stiffness, loss factor and storage shear modulus. Then, shaking table tests are done on a group of single-storey platform systems containing one symmetric platform and three asymmetric platforms with different eccentric forms. Experimental results show that the simulation precision of the restoring force model is rather good for the shear deformation of viscoelastic damper and is also satisfied for the torsion deformation and combined deformations of viscoelastic damper. The shaking table tests have verified that the new-type viscoelastic damper is capable of mitigating the multi-dimensional seismic response of offshore platform.