• Wind and Structures
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.423-437
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• 2021

Aerodynamic measures have been widely used for improving the flutter stability of long-span bridges, and this paper focuses their windproof ability to improve the wind environment for vehicles. The whole wind environment around a long-span bridge located in high altitude mountainous areas is first studied. The local wind environment above the deck is then focused by two perspectives. One is the windproof effects of aerodynamic measures, and the other is whether the bridge with aerodynamic measures meets the requirement of flutter stability after installing extra wind barriers in the future. Furthermore, the effects of different wind barriers are analyzed. Results show that aerodynamic measures exert potential effects on the local wind environment, as the vertical stabilizer obviously reduces wind velocities behind it while the closed central slot has limited effects. The suggested aerodynamic measures have the ability to offset the adverse effect of the wind barrier on the flutter stability of the bridge. Behind the wind barrier, wind velocities decrease in general, but in some places incoming flow has to pass through the deck with higher velocities due to the increase in blockage ratio. Further comparison shows that the wind barrier with four bars is optimal.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.354-361
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• 2002

This paper propose section properties factor to generate stress history for fatigue analysis and safety inspection of steel bridge. A methodology is described for the computation of numerical stress histories in the steel truss bridge, caused by the vehicles using section properties factor. The global 3-D beam model of bridge is combined with the local shell model of selected details. Joint geometry is introduced by the local shell model. The global beam model takes the effects of joint rigidity and interaction of structural elements into account. Connection nodes in the global beam model correspond to the end cross-section centroids of the local shell model. Their displacements are interpreted as imposed deformations on the local shell model. The load cases fur the global model simulate the vertical unit force along the stringers. The load cases fer the local model are imposed unit deformations. Combining these, and applying vehicle loads, numerical stress histories are obtained. The method is illustrated by test load results of an existing bridge.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.307-319
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• 2020

The upper chords in half-through truss bridges are prone to buckling due to a lack of the upper transverse connections. Taking into account geometric and material nonlinearity, nonlinear finite-element analysis of a simple supported truss bridge was carried out to exhibit effects of different types of initial imperfections. A half-wave of initial imperfection was proved to be effective in the nonlinear buckling analysis. And a parameter analysis of initial imperfections was also conducted to reveal that the upper chords have the greatest impact on the buckling, followed by the bottom chords, vertical and diagonal web members. Yet initial imperfections of transverse beams have almost no effect on the buckling. Moreover, using influence surface method, the combinatorial effects of initial imperfections were compared to demonstrate that initial imperfections of the upper chords play a leading role. Furthermore, the equivalent effective length coefficients of the upper chord were derived to be 0.2~0.28 by different methods, which implies vertical and diagonal web members still provide effective constraints for the upper chord despite a lack of the upper transverse connections between the two upper chords. Therefore, the geometrical and material nonlinear finite-element method is effective in the buckling analysis due to its higher precision. Based on nonlinear analysis and installation deviations of members, initial imperfection of l/500 is recommended in the nonlinear analysis of half-through truss bridges without initial imperfection investigation.

• Journal of Korean Society of societal Security
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.81-89
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• 2009

A web-based information management system to share engineering data of truss bridge is developed through construction of standardized database of truss bridge. 3D shape information is stored in database according to AP 203 of STEP, and 3D visualization on the web is implemented by using the web 3D technology that helps users to understand geometrical shape of structures, directly. AP209 is used to store structural analysis information such as finite elements, material properties, and analysis result into relational database. Based on the developed database, a prototype of integrated information management system for truss bridge is developed, and it provides additional information such as specifications and inspection information related with shape object to end users.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.521-535
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• 2016

A Harmony Search (HS) and Genetic Algorithms (GA), two powerful metaheuristic search techniques, are used for minimum weight designs of different truss structures by selecting suitable profile sections from a specified list taken from American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). A computer program is coded in MATLAB interacting with SAP2000-OAPI to obtain solution of design problems. The stress constraints according to AISC-ASD (Allowable Stress Design) and displacement constraints are considered for optimum designs. Three different truss structures such as bridge, dome and tower structures taken from literature are designed and the results are compared with the ones available in literature. The results obtained from the solutions for truss structures show that optimum designs by these techniques are very similar to the literature results and HS method usually provides more economical solutions in multi-element truss problems.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.103-112
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• 2005

This study examines the stability of Sungsu bridge which was issued nine years ago because of its collapse accident and now is on the progress of extension work in each construction stage by construction monitoring system. From this study, the measured value in each construction stage of anchorage truss and suspended truss shows the agreement with the analytical values up to 60~110 percents, and the elements' stresses emanating from the pre-loading stage, are also similar to the analytical value. Regarding these results, it is expected that each member has enough stiffness and the construction condition is satisfactory. In addition, it is expected that the transverse members and sway bracing bolts integrate completely the existing truss and new attached truss as a one body from the result of the vibration test to find out the integration rates.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.20 no.A
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• pp.149-158
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• 2000

After measuring actual stress by two measurements(Dynamic Strain Meter, Histogram Recorder) on truss rail road bridge, we could perform time history analysis by 3-D beam element method on modelling bridge. And then, after analyzing bridge structure in static by 3-D modelling, we estimated degree of fatigue damage in main member, secondary member of tie zone, cutting area of base metal cross section for confirming the result. In case that the simulated stress is carried out on modeling bridge, most of those simulation mainly is performed by main members. But in real bridge fatigue damage problems generally caused by junctions, connections, joints in which especially local stress is activated. Therefore, in this paper actual stress on critical area was estimated through the analysis result by simulation. With this study, we can estimate the degree of fatigue damage from a safety point of view and comparative accuracy.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.73 no.6
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• pp.641-649
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• 2020

The determination of midtower longitudinal stiffness has become an essential component in the preliminary design of multi-tower suspension bridges. For a specific multi-tower suspension bridge, the midtower longitudinal stiffness must be controlled within a certain range to meet the requirements of sliding resistance coefficient and deflection-to-span ratio. This study presents a numerical method to divide different types of midtower and determine rational range of longitudinal stiffness for rigid midtower. In this method, influence curves of midtower longitudinal stiffness on sliding resistance coefficient and maximum vertical deflection-to-span ratio are first obtained from the finite element analysis. Then, different types of midtower are divided based on the regression analysis of influence curves. Finally, rational range for longitudinal stiffness of rigid midtower is derived. The Oujiang River North Estuary Bridge which is a three-tower four-span suspension bridge with two main spans of 800m under construction in China is selected as the subject of this study. This will be the first three-tower four-span suspension bridge with steel truss girders and concrete midtower in the world. The proposed method provides an effective and feasible tool for engineers to design midtower of multi-tower suspension bridges.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.189-206
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• 2011

In this study, the subspace stochastic realization theories (SSR model I and SSR model II) have been applied to a real bridge for estimating its dynamic characteristics (natural frequencies, damping constants, and vibration modes) under ambient vibration. A numerical simulation is carried out for an arch-type steel truss bridge using a white noise excitation. The estimates obtained from this simulation are compared with those obtained from the Finite Element (FE) analysis, demonstrating good agreement and clarifying the excellent performance of this method in estimating the structural dynamic characteristics. Subsequently, these methods are applied to the vibration induced by both strong and weak winds as obtained by remote monitoring of the Kabashima bridge (an arch-type steel truss bridge of length 136 m, and situated in Nagasaki city). The results obtained with this experimental data reveal that more accurate estimates are obtained when strong wind vibration data is used. In contrast, the vibration data obtained from weak wind provides accurate estimates at lower frequencies, and inaccurate accuracy for higher modes of vibration that do not get excited by the wind of lower intensity. On the basis of the identified results obtained using both simulated data and monitored data from a real bridge, it is determined that the SSR model II realizes more accurate results than the SSR model I. In general, the approach investigated in this study is found to provide acceptable estimates of the dynamic characteristics of highway bridges as well as for the vibration monitoring of bridges.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.4
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• pp.495-508
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• 2021

This study devises a novel approach, namely quadruple 1D convolutional neural network, for detecting connection stiffness reduction in steel truss bridge structure using experimental and numerical modal data. The method is developed based on expertise in two domains: firstly, in Structural Health Monitoring, the mode shapes and its high-order derivatives, including second, third, and fourth derivatives, are accurate indicators in assessing damages. Secondly, in the Machine Learning literature, the deep convolutional neural networks are able to extract relevant features from input data, then perform classification tasks with high accuracy and reduced time complexity. The efficacy and effectiveness of the present method are supported through an extensive case study with the railway Nam O bridge. It delivers highly accurate results in assessing damage localization and damage severity for single as well as multiple damage scenarios. In addition, the robustness of this method is tested with the presence of white noise reflecting unavoidable uncertainties in signal processing and modeling in reality. The proposed approach is able to provide stable results with data corrupted by noise up to 10%.