• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.527-538
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• 2010

This paper presents a nondestructive evaluation approach for system identification (SID) of real railway bridges using field vibration test results. First, a multi-phase SID scheme designed on the basis of eigenvalue sensitivity concept is presented. Next, the proposed multi-phase approach is evaluated from field vibration tests on a real railway bridge (Wondongcheon bridge) located in Yangsan, Korea. On the steel girder bridge, a few natural frequencies and mode shapes are experimentally measured under the ambient vibration condition. The corresponding modal parameters are numerically calculated from a three-dimensional finite element (FE) model established for the target bridge. Eigenvalue sensitivities are analyzed for potential model-updating parameters of the FE model. Then, structural subsystems are identified phase-by-phase using the proposed model-updating procedure. Based on model-updating results, a baseline model and a nondestructive evaluation of test bridge are identified.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.259-268
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• 2017

System identification of structures is one of the important aspects of structural health monitoring. The accuracy and efficiency of identification results is affected severely by measurement noises, especially when the structure system is large, such as bridge structures, and when online system identification is required. In this paper, the least square estimation (LSE) method is used combined with the substructure approach for identifying structural parameters of a cable-stay bridge with large degree of freedoms online. Numerical analysis is carried out by first dividing the bridge structure into smaller substructures and then estimates the parameters of each substructure online using LSE method. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach is capable of identifying structural parameters, however, the accuracy and efficiency of identification results depend highly on the noise sensitivities of loading region, loading pattern as well as element size.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1993.10a
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• pp.240-247
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• 1993

The precise prediction of reserved carrying capacity of bridge as a system is extremely difficult especially when the bridges are highly redundant and significantly deteriorated or damaged. This paper is intended to propose a new approach for the evaluation of reserved system carrying capacity of bridges in terms of equivalent system-strength, which may be defined as a bridge system-strength corresponding to the system reliability of the bridge. This can be derived from an inverse process based on the concept of FOSM form of system reliability index. It may be emphasized that this approach is very useful for the evaluation of the deterministic system redundancy and reserve strength which are measured in terms of either probabilistic system redundancy factor and reserve factor or deterministic system redundancy factor and reserve factor. The system reliability of bridges is formulated as a parallel-series model obtained from the FAM(Failure Mode Approach) based on the major failure mechanisms. AFOSM and IST methods are used for the reliability analysis of the proposed models. The proposed approach and method for the system redundancy and reserve safety/strength are applied to the safety assessment of actual RC and steel box-girder bridges. The results of the evaluation of reserved system safety or bridge system-strength in terms of the system redundancy and the system safety/strength are significantly different from those of element reliability-based or conventional methods.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2006.11b
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• pp.558-564
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• 2006

When vehicles pass the connection between the bridge and earthwork, the difference of both sections' stiffness produces an increasing wheelload. As a consequence, it results in the excessive vibration of vehicles and the damage of bearing system. In general, steel plate girder railway bridges without ballast track have larger stiffness than the bridge with ballast, and produces larger impulse on the bridge superstructure. Thus, it is necessary to reduce the differences of both stiffness. This study presents parametric studies on the behavior of plate girder bridges and their tracks by means of various stiffnesses and the length of approach zone. The results of numerical study showed that the smaller the stiffness of both sides and the longer the length of approach zone, the variation of wheelload becomes smaller. Hence, it gives less burden into the plate girder bridges and their tracks. It is expected that the results of parametric study can be used as a preliminary data for the determination of economical length on the approach zone and the stiffness of both sides.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.445-470
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• 2016

In this study, the Bayesian probabilistic framework is investigated for modal identification and modal identifiability based on the field measurements provided in the structural health monitoring benchmark problem of an instrumented cable-stayed bridge named Ting Kau Bridge (TKB). The comprehensive structural health monitoring system on the cable-stayed TKB has been operated for more than ten years and it is recognized as one of the best test-beds with readily available field measurements. The benchmark problem of the cable-stayed bridge is established to stimulate investigations on modal identifiability and the present paper addresses this benchmark problem from the Bayesian prospective. In contrast to deterministic approaches, an appealing feature of the Bayesian approach is that not only the optimal values of the modal parameters can be obtained but also the associated estimation uncertainty can be quantified in the form of probability distribution. The uncertainty quantification provides necessary information to evaluate the reliability of parametric identification results as well as modal identifiability. Herein, the Bayesian spectral density approach is conducted for output-only modal identification and the Bayesian model class selection approach is used to evaluate the significance of different modes in modal identification. Detailed analysis on the modal identification and modal identifiability based on the measurements of the bridge will be presented. Moreover, the advantages and potentials of Bayesian probabilistic framework on structural health monitoring will be discussed.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.379-386
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• 2010

In conceptual design stage it is important to develop structural forms freely. However, structural engineers are prompt to consider types of structural systems following load paths rather than to imagine various forms. This study attempts to expand the limit of imagination that was blocked within engineering approach newly from geometric perspective view. First of all, existing bridge structures are reviewed in terms of geometric vocabulary. Some bridge forms showing apparent geometric features are regenerated through the geometric approach proposed in this study. This study is not to develop geometric principle to build new structural forms, but to propose the geometric approach to generate design alternatives using the well established geometry concepts.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.71-87
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• 2012

This paper extends a single equation, semi-analytical approach for three-span bridges to multi-span ones for the rapid and precise determination of natural frequencies and natural mode shapes of an orthotropic, multi-span plate. This method can be used to study the dynamic interaction between bridges and vehicles. It is based on the modal superposition method taking into account intermodal coupling to determine natural frequencies and mode shapes of a bridge deck. In this paper, a four- and a five-span orthotropic roadway bridge deck are compared in the first 10 modes with a finite element method analysis using ANSYS software. This simplified implementation matches numerical modeling within 2% in all cases. This paper verifies that applicability of a single formula approach as a simpler alternative to finite element modeling.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.171-180
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• 2019

This paper presents a restart iterative approach for time-domain flutter analysis of long-span bridges using the commercial FE package ANSYS. This approach utilizes the recursive formats of impulse-response-function expressions for bridge's aeroelastic forces. Nonlinear dynamic equilibrium equations are iteratively solved by using the restart technique in ANSYS, which enable the equilibrium state of system to get back to last moment absolutely during iterations. The condition for the onset of flutter instability becomes that, at a certain wind velocity, the amplitude of vibration is invariant with time. A long-span suspension bridge was taken as a numerical example to verify the applicability and accuracy of the proposed method by comparing calculated results with wind tunnel tests. The proposed method enables the bridge designers and engineering practitioners to carry out time-domain flutter analysis of bridges in commercial FE package ANSYS.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.29-42
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• 2006

In this study, a novel education system for inspection of concrete bridges is presented. The new education approach uses virtual reality (VR) and three-dimensional computer graphics (3DCG) in training engineers to become bridge inspection specialists. The slow time-dependent deterioration of concrete bridges can be reproduced on the computer screen in any chosen time frame, thus providing the trainees with illustrative and educative insight into the deterioration problem. In the proposed VR/3DCG approach a three-dimensional model of concrete bridge, including surfaces, viewpoints and walkthrough paths is created. With the help of this virtual bridge model, an experienced bridge inspection specialist teaches the different deterioration phenomena of concrete bridges to the trainees. The new system was tested, and the inspection results from the case bridge showed that in comparison with the traditional Japanese bridge inspection education system, the new system gives better results. In addition to the improvement of quality of bridge inspections, the new VR/3DCG system-based education brings along some other, more intangible benefits.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.74 no.1
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• pp.55-67
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• 2020

The common practice to predict the characteristic structural load effects (LEs) in long reference periods is to employ the extreme value theory (EVT) for building limit distributions. However, most applications ignore that LEs are driven by multiple loading events and thus do not have the identical distribution, a prerequisite for EVT. In this study, we propose the composite extreme value modeling approach using clustering to (a) cluster initial blended samples into finite identical distributed subsamples using the finite mixture model, expectation-maximization algorithm, and the Akaike information criterion; (b) combine limit distributions of subsamples into a composite prediction equation using the generalized Pareto distribution based on a joint threshold. The proposed approach was validated both through numerical examples with known solutions and engineering applications of bridge traffic LEs on a long-span bridge. The results indicate that a joint threshold largely benefits the composite extreme value modeling, many appropriate tail approaching models can be used, and the equation form is simply the sum of the weighted models. In numerical examples, the proposed approach using clustering generated accurate extrema prediction of any reference period compared with the known solutions, whereas the common practice of employing EVT without clustering on the mixture data showed large deviations. Real-world bridge traffic LEs are driven by multi-events and present multipeak distributions, and the proposed approach is more capable of capturing the tendency of tailed LEs than the conventional approach. The proposed approach is expected to have wide applications to general problems such as samples that are driven by multiple events and that do not have the identical distribution.