• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.123-132
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• 2010

This paper presents a prestress-loss monitoring technique for prestressed concrete (PSC) girder structures that uses a vibration-based system identification method. First, the theoretical backgrounds of the prestress-loss monitoring technique and the system identification technique are presented. Second, vibration tests are performed on a lab-scaled PSC girder for which the modal parameter was measured for several prestress-force cases. A numerical modal analysis is performed by using an initial finite element (FE) model from the geometric, material, and boundary conditions of the lab-scaled PSC girder. Third, a vibration-based system identification is performed to update the FE model by identifying structural parameters since the natural frequency of the FE model became identical to the experimental results. Finally, the feasibility of the prestress-loss monitoring technique is evaluated for the PSC girder model by using the experimentally measured natural frequency and numerically identified natural frequency for several prestress-force cases.