• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.134-142
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• 2012

This paper presents a study of system identification on the tilt response of the L-type retaining wall located at Tanhyun 11th ACE Apartment, Ilsan in order to understand mechanism how the structure behaves in operational conditions and to provide a reference tilt values for assessing structural abnormality. The retaining wall was extraordinarily tall (14m) in urban area so the long-term monitoring system had been installed with 3 tilts-meters and 9 temperature sensors operational from Oct 2004 upto Nov 2007. By using 5-months continuous data in which all the 12 channels were up and running, the two prediction models, 1) the linear model, and 2) the state-space equation (SSE) model, have been identified by finding the best fitness model among all possible 511 combinations of input temperatures out of the 9 temperatures. The linear model which was simple in the model structure achieved the validation fittness of 68% due to the fact that the static model wasn't able to represent thermal dynamics. The SSE model achieved the validation fitness of 90% which was quite accurate considering various unexpected noises happening in field measurements.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.225-230
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• 2016

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are currently the most prevalent sensors because of their unique advantages such as ease of multiplexing and capability of performing absolute measurements. They are applied to various structures for structural health monitoring (SHM). The signal characteristics of FBG sensors under thermal loading should be investigated to enhance the reliability of these sensors, because they are exposed to certain cyclic thermal loads due to temperature changes resulting from change of seasons, when they are applied to structures for SHM. In this study, tests on specimens are conducted in a thermal chamber with temperature changes from -$20^{\circ}C$ to $60^{\circ}C$ for 300 cycles. For the specimens, two types of base materials and adhesives that are normally used in the manufacture of packaged FBG sensors are selected. From the test results, it is confirmed that the FBG sensors undergo some degree of compressive strain under cyclic thermal load; this can lead to measurement errors. Hence, a pre-calibration is necessary before applying these sensors to structures for long-term SHM.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.225-238
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• 2010

We report on the development of a new technology for the fabrication of Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System (MEMS) strain sensors to realize a novel type of crackmeter for health monitoring of ageing civil infrastructures. The fabrication of micromachined silicon MEMS sensors based on a Silicon On Insulator (SOI) technology, designed according to a Double Ended Tuning Fork (DETF) geometry is presented, using a novel process which includes a gap narrowing procedure suitable to fabricate sensors with low motional resistance. In order to employ these sensors for crack monitoring, techniques suited for bonding the MEMS sensors on a steel surface ensuring good strain transfer from steel to silicon and a packaging technique for the bonded sensors are proposed, conceived for realizing a low-power crackmeter for ageing infrastructure monitoring. Moreover, the design of a possible crackmeter geometry suited for detection of crack contraction and expansion with a resolution of $10{\mu}m$ and very low power consumption requirements (potentially suitable for wireless operation) is presented. In these sensors, the small crackmeter range for the first field use is related to long-term observation on existing cracks in underground tunnel test sections.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.6 s.52
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• pp.115-123
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• 2006

This paper presents long-term dynamic characteristics of a cable-stayed bridge where installed SHM (Structural Health Monitoring) system. Modal parameters such as natural frequencies and mode shapes are identified by modal analysis using three dimensional finite element model. The developed baseline model has a good correlation with measured natural frequencies identified from field ambient vibrations. By statistical data processing between measured natural frequencies and temperatures, it is demonstrated that the natural frequency is in linearly inverse proportion to the temperature. The estimation of temperature effects against frequency variations is performed. Mode shapes are identified from the TDD (Time Domain Decomposition) technique for ambient vibration measurements. Finally, these results demonstrate that the TDD method can apply to identify modal parameters of a cable-stayed bridge.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.41-54
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• 2013

Concrete is known as a heterogeneous product which is composed of complex chemical composition and reaction. The development of concrete thermal effect during early age is critical on its future structural health and long term durability. When cement is mixed with water, the exothermic chemical reaction generates hydration heat, which raises the temperature within the concrete. Consequently, cracking may occur if the concrete temperature rises too high or if there is a large temperature difference between the interior and the exterior of concrete structures during early age hydration. This paper describes the contribution of novel Fabry-Perot (FP) fiber optic temperature sensors to investigate the thermal effects of concrete hydration process. Concrete specimens were manufactured under various water-to-cement (w/c) ratios from 0.40 to 0.60. During the first 24 hours of concreting, two FP fiber optic temperature sensors were inserted into concrete specimens with the protection of copper tubing to monitor the surface and core temperature change. The experimental results revealed effects of w/c ratios on surface and core temperature developments during early age hydration, as well as demonstrating that FP fiber optic sensors are capable of capturing temperature variation in the concrete with reliable performance. Temperature profiles are used for calculating the apparent activation energy ($E_a$) and the heat of hydration (H(t)) of concrete, which can help us to better understand cement hydration.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.363-380
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• 2005

The cable tension plays an important role in the construction, assessment and long-term health monitoring of cable structures. The cable vibration equation is nonlinear if cable sag and bending stiffness are included. The engineering implementation of a vibration-based cable tension evaluation is mostly carried out by the simple taut string theory. However, the simple theory may cause unacceptable errors in many applications since the cable sag and bending stiffness are ignored. From the practical point of view, it is necessary to have empirical formulas if they are simple and yet accurate. Based on the solutions by means of energy method and fitting the exact solutions of cable vibration equations where the cable sag and bending stiffness are respectively taken into account, the empirical formulas are proposed in the paper to estimate cable tension based on the cable fundamental frequency only. The applicability of the proposed formulas is verified by comparing the results with those reported in the literatures and with the experimental results carried out on the stay cables in the laboratory. The proposed formulas are straightforward and they are convenient for practical engineers to fast estimate the cable tension by the cable fundamental frequency.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.939-957
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• 2015

In this paper, a new approach based on the continuum model is proposed to estimate the main cable tension force of suspension bridges from measured natural frequencies. This approach considered the vertical vibration of a main cable hinged at both towers and supported by an elastic girder and hangers along its entire length. The equation reflected the relationship between vibration frequency and horizontal tension force of a main cable was derived. To avoid to generate the additional cable tension force by sag-extensibility, the analytical solution of characteristic equation for anti-symmetrical vibration mode of the main cable was calculated. Then, the estimation of main cable tension force was carried out by anti-symmetric characteristic frequency vector. The errors of estimation due to characteristic frequency deviations were investigated through numerical analysis of the main cable of Taizhou Bridge. A field experiment was conducted to verify the proposed approach. Through measuring and analyzing the responses of a main cable of Taizhou Bridge under ambient excitation, the horizontal tension force of the main cable was identified from the first three odd frequencies. It is shown that the estimated results agree well with the designed values. The proposed approach can be used to conduct the long-term health monitoring of suspension bridges.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.105-116
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• 2022

Stay cables play an essential role in cable-stayed bridges. Severe vibrations and/or harsh environment may result in cable failures. Therefore, an efficient structural health monitoring (SHM) solution for cable damage detection is necessary. This study proposes a data-driven method for immediately detecting cable damage from measured cable forces by recognizing pattern transition from the intact condition when damage occurs. In the proposed method, pattern recognition for cable damage detection is realized by time series classification (TSC) using a deep learning (DL) model, namely, the long short term memory fully convolutional network (LSTM-FCN). First, a TSC classifier is trained and validated using the cable forces (or cable force ratios) collected from intact stay cables, setting the segmented data series as input and the cable (or cable pair) ID as class labels. Subsequently, the classifier is tested using the data collected under possible damaged conditions. Finally, the cable or cable pair corresponding to the least classification accuracy is recommended as the most probable damaged cable or cable pair. A case study using measured cable forces from an in-service cable-stayed bridge shows that the cable with damage can be correctly identified using the proposed DL-TSC method. Compared with existing cable damage detection methods in the literature, the DL-TSC method requires minor data preprocessing and feature engineering and thus enables fast and convenient early detection in real applications.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.13 no.3 s.55
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• pp.135-144
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• 2009

The cable system of suspension bridges is a very important non-elastic element which caries an external load by a tension force of the cable, such that creates the integrity of a structure. It is not easy to find if cable system have been changed by the maintenance activities such as repairs or reinforcement. Sometimes the maintenance can cause structural deformations and changes of the tension force in cables. In most cases, the cable stayed bridges are managed by health monitering system, however, the main cable of suspension bridges need to develop more accurate and efficient monitoring system. The Namhee Bridge was constructed 35 years ago and it has been continually repaired and reinforced after then. This study describes the behavior of the cable system by analysing many of inspective reports and by using the results of hanger rope test and for the shape of main cables surveys.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.471-489
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• 2016

Modal identification based on ambient vibration data has attracted extensive attention in the past few decades. Since the excitation for ambient vibration tests is mainly from the environmental effects such as wind and traffic loading and no artificial excitation is applied, the signal to noise (s/n) ratio of the data acquired plays an important role in mode identifiability. Under ambient vibration conditions, certain modes may not be identifiable due to a low s/n ratio. This paper presents a study on the mode identifiability of an instrumented cable-stayed bridge with the use of acceleration response data measured by a long-term structural health monitoring system. A recently developed fast Bayesian FFT method is utilized to perform output-only modal identification. In addition to identifying the most probable values (MPVs) of modal parameters, the associated posterior uncertainties can be obtained by this method. Likewise, the power spectral density of modal force can be identified, and thus it is possible to obtain the modal s/n ratio. This provides an efficient way to investigate the mode identifiability. Three groups of data are utilized in this study: the first one is 10 data sets including six collected under normal wind conditions and four collected during typhoons; the second one is three data sets with wind speeds of about 7.5 m/s; and the third one is some blind data. The first two groups of data are used to perform ambient modal identification and help to estimate a critical value of the s/n ratio above which the deficient mode is identifiable, while the third group of data is used to perform verification. A couple of fundamental modes are identified, including the ones in the vertical and transverse directions respectively and coupled in both directions. The uncertainty and s/n ratio of the deficient mode are investigated and discussed. A critical value of the modal s/n ratio is suggested to evaluate the mode identifiability of the deficient mode. The work presented in this paper could provide a base for the vibration-based condition assessment in future.