• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.107-116
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• 1992

The structural integrity of bridges is mainly damaged by overloaded heavy vehicles. The increasing volumes of overloaded heavy vehicles has been indicated as serious state. As results several countries have revised their bridge load codes. However, because of variety of truck types and their weights it is difficult to develop rational standard truck loads. In addition the common practice that only one design configuration of standard truck is adopted to design variety of bridges causes further difficulties. The objective of the study is to investigate the statistical characteristics of vehicle loadings based on survey data collected, in which some major factors, such as vehicle configurations, vehicle weights, traffic modes, etc., are incorporated. The vehicle load effects due to single presence of heavy truck are also tested with several short-span bridges and probabilistic characteristics of current design practices are evaluated.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.233-247
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• 2006

Most codes of practice state that for large in-plane structures it is necessary to account for the spatial variability of earthquake ground motion. There are essentially three effects that contribute for this variation: (i) wave passage effect, due to finite propagation velocity; (ii) incoherence effect, due to differences in superposition of waves; and (iii) the local site amplification due to spatial variation in geological conditions. This paper discusses the procedures to be undertaken in the time domain analysis of a cable-stayed bridge under spatial variability of earthquake ground motion. The artificial synthesis of correlated displacements series that simulate the earthquake load is discussed first. Next, it is described the 3D model of the International Guadiana Bridge used for running tests with seismic analysis. A comparison of the effects produced by seismic waves with different apparent propagation velocities and different geological conditions is undertaken. The results in this study show that the differences between the analysis with and without spatial variability of earthquake ground motion can be important for some displacements and internal forces, especially those influenced by symmetric modes.

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.168-174
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• 2023

In the current world, with the massive scale of SOC construction, it is difficult to diagnose and check all of a bridge's abnormal states with even the experts' eyes for maintenance. It is because we should spend huge costs and time on maintenance. Still, there are not many alternative ways to inspect bridges remotely regarding accuracy or reality. Therefore, we remark on the advantages and disadvantages of previous methods through practices in SOC maintenance. To inspect the abnormal state of the Bridge, we suggest inspecting bridges with an Augmented Reality (AR) mechanism to reduce cost, human resource consumption, and the risk of work. Through the proposed approach, we expect that it provides ways to solve massive construction problems with software-based technologies.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2000.04b
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• pp.100-110
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• 2000

In practical design of girder bridges or reinforced concrete slab bridges with T-type piers, it is usually assumed that vertical movements of superstructures are completely restrained at the locations of bearings(shoes) on a cap beam of the pier, The resulting vertical reactions are applied to the bearing for the calculation of bending moments and shear forces in the cap beam. However, in reality, the overhang parts of the cap beam will deform under the dead load of superstructures and the live load so that it may act as an elastic foundation. Due to the settlement of the elastic foundation, the actual distribution of the reactions at the bearings along the cap beam may be different from that obtained under the assumption that the vertical movements are fixed at the bearings. In the present study, investigated is the effects of elastic deformations of the T-type pier on the distribution of reactions at the bearings along the cap beam through 3-dimensional finite element analysis. Herein, for this purpose the whole structural system including the superstructure and piers as well is analyzed. It appears that the conventional practice which neglects the elastic deformations of the cap beam exhibits considerably different distributions of the reactions as compared with those obtained from the present finite element analysis. It is, therefore, recommended that in order to assess the reactions at bearings correctly the whole structural system be analyzed using 3-dimensional finite element analysis.

• 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.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.3
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• pp.293-303
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• 2022

As infrastructure ages and traffic load increases, serious public concerns have arisen for the well-being of bridges. The current health monitoring practice focuses on large-scale bridges rather than short span bridges. However, it is critical that more attention should be given to these behind-the-scene bridges. The relevant information about the construction methods and as-built properties are most likely missing. Additionally, since the condition of a bridge has unavoidably changed during service, due to weathering and deterioration, the material properties and boundary conditions would also have changed since its construction. Therefore, it is not appropriate to continue using the design values of the bridge parameters when undertaking any analysis to evaluate bridge performance. It is imperative to update the model, using finite element (FE) analysis to reflect the current structural condition. In this study, a FE model is established to simulate a concrete culvert bridge in New South Wales, Australia. That model, however, contains a number of parameter uncertainties that would compromise the accuracy of analytical results. The model is therefore updated with a neural network (NN) optimisation algorithm incorporating Monte Carlo (MC) simulation to minimise the uncertainties in parameters. The modal frequency and strain responses produced by the updated FE model are compared with the frequency and strain values on-site measured by sensors. The outcome indicates that the NN model updating incorporating MC simulation is a feasible and robust optimisation method for updating numerical models so as to minimise the difference between numerical models and their real-world counterparts.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.967-993
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• 2015

The aim of this paper is to investigate the appropriateness of current codes of practice for predicting the axial load capacity of high-strength Concrete Filled Steel Tubular Columns (CFSTCs). Australian/New Zealand standards and other international codes of practice for composite bridges and buildings are currently being revised and will allow for the use of high-strength CFSTCs. It is therefore important to assess and modify the suitability of the section and ultimate buckling capacities models. For this purpose, available experimental results on high-strength composite columns have been assessed. The collected experimental results are compared with eight current codes of practice for rectangular CFSTCs and seven current codes of practice for circular CFSTCs. Furthermore, based on the statistical studies carried out, simplified relationships are developed to predict the section and ultimate buckling capacities of normal and high-strength short and slender rectangular and circular CFSTCs subjected to concentric loading.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.6 no.8
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• pp.871-882
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• 1998

This paper presents a new design method of truss bridges using advanced analysis. In this approach, separate member capacity checks encompassed by the specification equations are not required because the stability of separate members and the structure as a whole can be treated rigorously for the determination of the maximum strength of the structures. The method is developed and refined by modifications to the conventional elastic-plastic hinge method. Verification studies are carried out by comparing with the plastic-zone solutions. The load-deflection behavior of the truss shows a good agreement between the plastic-zone analysis. A case study is provided for a truss bridge. Member sizes determined by the proposed method are compared with those determined by the conventional method. It is concluded that the proposed method is suitable for adoption in practice.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.70-76
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• 2013

The objective of the paper is to present the results of analytical and experimental studies dealing with dynamic load for continuous steel girder bridges due to normal truck traffic. Various bridge design codes specify dynamic load factor (defined as a fraction of static portion of live load) for short span structures at the level of about 0.3. However, there are not definite values specified for continuous brigdes. Therefore, it is an usual practice to use the code specified dynamic load factors for simple span bridges to continuous bridges without clear background. The field measurement results indicate that the actual dynamic load factors are less than 0.2 for a single truck, and less than 0.05 for two trucks side-by-side, regardless of positive and negative moment region.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.317-343
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• 2013

When evaluating flutter instability, it is often assumed that incident wind is normal to the longitudinal axis of a bridge and the flutter critical wind speed estimated from this direction is most unfavorable. However, the results obtained in this study via oblique sectional model tests of four typical types of bridge decks show that the lowest flutter critical wind speeds often occur in the yaw wind cases. The four types of bridge decks tested include a flat single-box deck, a flat ${\Pi}$-shaped thin-wall deck, a flat twin side-girder deck, and a truss-stiffened deck with and without a narrow central gap. The yaw wind effect could reduce the critical wind speed by about 6%, 2%, 8%, 7%, respectively, for the above four types of decks within a wind inclination angle range between $-3^{\circ}$ and $3^{\circ}$, and the yaw wind angles corresponding to the minimal critical wind speeds are between $4^{\circ}$ and $15^{\circ}$. It was also found that the flutter critical wind speed varies in an undulate manner with the increase of yaw angle, and the variation pattern is largely dependent on both deck shape and wind inclination angle. Therefore, the cosine rule based on the mean wind decomposition is generally inapplicable to the estimation of flutter critical wind speed of long-span bridges under skew winds. The unfavorable effect of yaw wind on the flutter instability of long-span bridges should be taken into consideration seriously in the future practice, especially for supper-long span bridges in strong wind regions.