• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.331-348
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• 2013

Effective monitoring, reliable data analysis, and rational data interpretations are challenges for engineers who are specialized in bridge health monitoring. This paper demonstrates how to use the Global Positioning System (GPS) and accelerometer data to accurately extract static and quasi-static displacements of the bridge induced by ambient effects. To eliminate the disadvantages of the two separate units, based on the characteristics of the bias terms derived from the GPS and accelerometer respectively, a wavelet based multi-step filtering method by combining the merits of the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) with the discrete stationary wavelet transform (SWT) is proposed so as to address the GPS deformation monitoring application more efficiently. The field measurements are carried out on an existing suspension bridge under the normal operation without any traffic interference. Experimental results showed that the frequencies and absolute displacements of the bridge can be accurate extracted by the proposed method. The integration of GPS and accelerometer can be used as a reliable tool to characterize the dynamic behavior of large structures such as suspension bridges undergoing environmental loads.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2006.11b
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• pp.336-340
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• 2006

The cases of using new methods of big blocks are largely increasing on Recent large-scale bridge structures. So the accurate data of responses of bridges following environmental causes are required to be quickly recorded in order to predict. For this reason described above, the research on measuring system should be conducted for more knowledge of the details on application and stability of new methods. In this study, the new health monitoring system that can monitor the real behavior and damages of the bridge during all processes of construction is presented by analyzing cases of domestic and overseas bridge health monitoring system, and applied methods of following bridges.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.849-868
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• 2014

An indirect approach is explored for structural health bridge monitoring allowing for wide, yet cost-effective, bridge stock coverage. The detection capability of the approach is tested in a laboratory setting for three different reversible proxy types of damage scenarios: changes in the support conditions (rotational restraint), additional damping, and an added mass at the midspan. A set of frequency features is used in conjunction with a support vector machine classifier on data measured from a passing vehicle at the wheel and suspension levels, and directly from the bridge structure for comparison. For each type of damage, four levels of severity were explored. The results show that for each damage type, the classification accuracy based on data measured from the passing vehicle is, on average, as good as or better than the classification accuracy based on data measured from the bridge. Classification accuracy showed a steady trend for low (1-1.75 m/s) and high vehicle speeds (2-2.75 m/s), with a decrease of about 7% for the latter. These results show promise towards a highly mobile structural health bridge monitoring system for wide and cost-effective bridge stock coverage.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.711-726
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• 2008

A number of efforts had been sought to instrument bridges for the purpose of structural monitoring and assessment. The outcome of these efforts, as gauged by advances in the understanding of the definition of structural damage and their role in sensor selection as well as in the design of cost and data-effective monitoring systems, has itself been difficult to assess. The authors' experience with the design, calibration, and operation of a monitoring system for the Kishwaukee Bridge in Illinois has provided several lessons that bear upon these concerns. The systems have performed well in providing a continuous, low-cost monitoring platform for bridge engineers with immediate relevant information.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.556-562
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• 2007

This paper presents the use of a novel fiber optic accelerometer system to monitor ambient vibration (both wind-induced one and vehicle-induced) of a real bridge structure. This sensor system integrates the $Moir\'{e}$ fringe phenomenon with fiber optics to achieve accurate and reliable measurements. A low-cost signal processing unit implements unique algorithms to further enhance the resolution and increase the dynamic bandwidth of the sensors. The fiber optic accelerometer has two major benefits in using this fiber optic accelerometer system for monitoring civil engineering structures. One is its immunity to electromagnetic (EM) interference making it suitable for difficult applications in such environments involving strong EM fields, electrical spark-induced explosion risks, and cabling problems, prohibiting the use of conventional electromagnetic accelerometers. The other is its ability to measure both low- and high-amplitude vibrations with a constantly high resolution without pre-setting a gain level, as usually required in a conventional accelerometer. The second benefit makes the sensor system particularly useful for real-time measurement of both ambient vibration (that is often used for structural health monitoring) and strong motion such as earthquake. Especially, the semi-strong motion and the small ambient one are successfully simulated and measured by using the new fiber optic accelerometer in the experiment of the structural health monitoring of a real bridge.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.165-174
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• 2010

In this paper, a two-phase structural health monitoring system using acceleration response signatures are presented to firstly alarm the change in structural condition and to secondly detect the changed location for full-scale concrete girder bridges. Firstly, Mihocheon Bridge which is a two-span continuous concrete girder bridge is selected as the target structure. The dynamic response features of Mihocheon Bridge are extracted by forced vibration test using bowling ball. Secondly, the damage alarming occurrence and the damage localization techniques are selected to design two-phase structural health monitoring system for Mihocheon Bridge. As the damage alarming techniques, auto-regressive model using time-domain signatures, correlation coefficient of frequency response function and frequency response ratio assurance criterion are selected. As the damage localization technique, modal strain energy-based damage index method is selected. Finally, the feasibility of two-phase structural health monitoring systems is evaluated from static loading tests using a dump truck.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.371-392
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• 2014

Long-span cable-supported bridges are flexible structures vulnerable to unsymmetric loadings such as railway traffic and strong wind. The torsional dynamic response of long-span cable-supported bridges under running trains and/or strong winds may deform the railway track laid on the bridge deck and affect the running safety of trains and the comfort of passengers, and even lead the bridge to collapse. Therefore, it is eager to figure out the torsional dynamic response of long-span cable-supported bridges under running trains and/or strong winds. The Tsing Ma Bridge (TMB) in Hong Kong is a suspension bridge with a main span of 1,377 m, and is currently the world's longest suspension bridge carrying both road and rail traffic. Moreover, this bridge is located in one of the most active typhoon-prone regions in the world. A wind and structural health monitoring system (WASHMS) was installed on the TMB in 1997, and after 17 years of successful operation it is still working well as desired. Making use of one-year monitoring data acquired by the WASHMS, the torsional dynamic responses of the bridge deck under rail traffic and strong winds are analyzed. The monitoring results demonstrate that the differences of vertical displacement at the opposite edges and the corresponding rotations of the bridge deck are less than 60 mm and $0.1^{\circ}$ respectively under weak winds, and less than 300 mm and $0.6^{\circ}$ respectively under typhoons, implying that the torsional dynamic response of the bridge deck under rail traffic and wind loading is not significant due to the rational design.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.183-197
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• 2023

For long-span bridges with a structural health monitoring (SHM) system, environmental temperature-driven responses are proved to be a main component in measurements. However, anomalous structural behavior may be hidden incomplicated recorded data. In order to receive reliable assessment of structural performance, it is important to study therelationship between temperature and monitoring data. This paper presents an application of the cointegration based methodology to detect anomalies that may be masked by temperature effects and then forecast the temperature-induced deflection (TID) of long-span suspension bridges. Firstly, temperature effects on girder deflection are analyzed with fieldmeasured data of a suspension bridge. Subsequently, the cointegration testing procedure is conducted. A threshold-based anomaly detection framework that eliminates the influence of environmental temperature is also proposed. The cointegrated residual series is extracted as the index to monitor anomaly events in bridges. Then, wavelet separation method is used to obtain TIDs from recorded data. Combining cointegration theory with autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model, TIDs for longspan bridges are modeled and forecasted. Finally, in-situ measurements of Xihoumen Bridge are adopted as an example to demonstrate the effectiveness of the cointegration based approach. In conclusion, the proposed method is practical for actual structures which ensures the efficient management and maintenance based on monitoring data.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.153-166
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• 2023

Health monitoring of civil infrastructures, in particular, old bridges that are still in service, has become more than necessary, given the risk that a possible degradation or failure of these infrastructures can induce on the safety of users in addition to the resulting commercial and economic impact. Bridge integrity assessment has attracted significant research efforts over the past forty years with the aim of developing new damage identification methods applicable to real structures. The bridge of Ouled Mimoun (Tlemcen, Algeria) is one of the oldest railway structure in the country. It was built in 1889. This bridge, which is too low with respect to the level of the road, has suffered multiple shocks from various machines that caused considerable damage to its central part. The present work aims to analyze the stability of this bridge by identifying damages and evaluating the damage rate in different parts of the structure on the basis of a finite element model. The applied method is based on an inverse analysis of the normal stress responses that were calculated from the corresponding recorded strains, during the passage of a real train, by means of a set of strain gauges placed on certain elements of the bridge. The results obtained from the inverse analysis made it possible to successfully locate areas that were really damaged and to estimate the damage rate. These results were also used to detect an excessive rigidity in certain elements due to the presence of plates, which were neglected in the numerical reference model. In the case of the continuous bridge monitoring, this developed method will be a very powerful tool as a smart health monitoring system, allowing engineers to take in time decisions in the event of bridge damage.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.477-496
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• 2013

Due to their cost-effectiveness and ease of installation, wireless smart sensors (WSS) have received considerable recent attention for structural health monitoring of civil infrastructure. Though various wireless smart sensor networks (WSSN) have been successfully implemented for full-scale structural health monitoring (SHM) applications, monitoring of low-level ambient strain still remains a challenging problem for WSS due to A/D converter (ADC) resolution, inherent circuit noise, and the need for automatic operation. In this paper, the design and validation of high-precision strain sensor board for the Imote2 WSS platform and its application to SHM of a cable-stayed bridge are presented. By accurate and automated balancing of the Wheatstone bridge, signal amplification of up to 2507-times can be obtained, while keeping signal mean close to the center of the ADC span, which allows utilization of the full span of the ADC. For better applicability to SHM for real-world structures, temperature compensation and shunt calibration are also implemented. Moreover, the sensor board has been designed to accommodate a friction-type magnet strain sensor, in addition to traditional foil-type strain gages, facilitating fast and easy deployment. The wireless strain sensor board performance is verified through both laboratory-scale tests and deployment on a full-scale cable-stayed bridge.