• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.545-559
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• 2000

A Wind and Structural Health Monitoring System (WASHMS) has been installed in the Tsing Ma suspension Bridge in Hong Kong with one of the objectives being the verification of analytical processes used in wind-resistant design. On 2 August 1997, Typhoon Victor just crossed over the Bridge and the WASHMS timely recorded both wind and structural response. The measurement data are analysed in this paper to obtain the mean wind speed, mean wind direction, mean wind inclination, turbulence intensity, integral scale, gust factor, wind spectrum, and the acceleration response and natural frequency of the Bridge. It is found that some features of wind structure and bridge response are difficult to be considered in the currently used analytical process for predicting buffeting response of long suspension bridges, for the Bridge is surrounded by a complex topography and the wind direction of Typhoon Victor changes during its crossing. It seems to be necessary to improve the prediction model so that a reasonable comparison can be performed between the measurement and prediction for long suspension bridges in typhoon prone regions.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.53-70
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• 2003

Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong is the longest suspension bridge in the world carrying both highway and railway. It has two H-shape concrete towers, each of which is composed of two reinforced concrete legs and four deep transverse prestressed concrete beams. A series of wind tunnel tests have been performed to measure the aerodynamic coefficients of the tower legs and transverse beams in various arrangements. A 1:100 scaled 3D rigid model of the full bridge tower assembled from various tower components has been constructed for different test cases. The aerodynamic coefficients of the lower and upper segments of the windward and leeward tower legs and those of the transverse beams at different levels, with and without the dummy bridge deck model, were measured as a function of yaw wind angle. The effects of wind interference among the tower components and the influence of the bridge deck on the tower aerodynamic coefficients were also investigated. The results achieved can be used as the pertinent data for the comparison of the computed and field-measured fully coupled buffeting responses of the entire bridge under yaw winds.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.179-196
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• 2003

A long suspension bridge is often located within a unique wind environment, and strong winds at the site seldom attack the bridge at a right angle to its long axis. This paper thus investigates the buffeting response of long suspension bridges to skew winds. The conventional buffeting analysis in the frequency domain is first improved to take into account skew winds based on the quasi-steady theory and the oblique strip theory in conjunction with the finite element method and the pseudo-excitation method. The aerodynamic coefficients and flutter derivatives of the Tsing Ma suspension bridge deck under skew winds, which are required in the improved buffeting analysis, are then measured in a wind tunnel using specially designed test rigs. The field measurement data, which were recorded during Typhoon Sam in 1999 by the Wind And Structural Health Monitoring System (WASHMS) installed on the Tsing Ma Bridge, are analyzed to obtain both wind characteristics and buffeting responses. Finally, the field measured buffeting responses of the Tsing Ma Bridge are compared with those from the computer simulation using the improved method and the aerodynamic coefficients and flutter derivatives measured under skew winds. The comparison is found satisfactory in general.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.261-279
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• 2005

The hot spot stress approach is usually adopted in the fatigue design and analysis of tubular welded joints. To apply the hot spot stress approach for fatigue evaluation of long span suspension bridges, the FEM is used to determine the hot spot stress of critical fatigue location. Using the local finite element models of the Tsing Ma Bridge, typical joints are developed and the stress concentration factors are determined. As a case for study, the calculated stress concentration factor is combined with the nominal representative stress block cycle to obtain the representative hot spot stress range cycle block under traffic loading from online health monitoring system. A comparison is made between the nominal stress approach and the hot spot stress approach for fatigue life evaluation of the Tsing Ma Bridge. The comparison result shows that the nominal stress approach cannot consider the most critical stress of the fatigue damage location and the hot spot stress approach is more appropriate for fatigue evaluation.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.655-670
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• 2004

This paper aims to evaluate the effect of typhoons on fatigue damage accumulation in steel decks of long-span suspension bridges. The strain-time histories at critical locations of deck sections of long-span bridges during different typhoons passing the bridge area are investigated by using on-line strain data acquired from the structural health monitoring system installed on the bridge. The fatigue damage models based on Miner's Law and Continuum Damage Mechanics (CDM) are applied to calculate the increment of fatigue damage due to the action of a typhoon. Accumulated fatigue damage during the typhoon is also calculated and compared between Miner's Law and the CDM method. It is found that for the Tsing Ma Bridge case, the stress spectrum generated by a typhoon is significantly different than that generated by normal traffic and its histogram shapes can be described approximately as a Rayleigh distribution. The influence of typhoon loading on accumulative fatigue damage is more significant than that due to normal traffic loading. The increment of fatigue damage generated by hourly stress spectrum for the maximum typhoon loading may be much greater than those for normal traffic loading. It is, therefore, concluded that it is necessary to evaluate typhoon induced fatigue damage for the purpose of accurately evaluating accumulative fatigue damage for long-span bridges located within typhoon prone regions.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.859-887
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• 2015

Structural health monitoring (SHM) has gained in popularity in recent years since it can assess the performance and condition of instrumented structures in real time and provide valuable information to the asset's manager and owner. Operational modal analysis plays an important role in SHM and it involves the determination of natural frequencies, damping ratios and mode shapes of a constructed structure based on measured dynamic data. This paper presents the operational modal analysis and seismic response characterization of the Tsing Ma Suspension Bridge of 2,160 m long subjected to different earthquake events. Three kinds of events, i.e., short-distance, middle-distance and long-distance earthquakes are taken into account. A fast Bayesian modal identification method is used to carry out the operational modal analysis. The modal properties of the bridge are identified and compared by use of the field monitoring data acquired before and after the earthquake for each type of the events. Research emphasis is given on identifying the predominant modes of the seismic responses in the deck during short-distance, middle-distance and long-distance earthquakes, respectively, and characterizing the response pattern of various structural portions (deck, towers, main cables, etc.) under different types of earthquakes. Since the bridge is over 2,000 m long, the seismic wave would arrive at the tower/anchorage basements of the two side spans at different time instants. The behaviors of structural dynamic responses on the Tsing Yi side span and on the Ma Wan side span under each type of the earthquake events are compared. The results obtained from this study would be beneficial to the seismic design of future long-span bridges to be built around Hong Kong (e.g., the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge).

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2011.04a
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• pp.445-448
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• 2011

최근 재료 및 시공 기술의 지속적 발전으로 인하여, 사장교, 현수교 등 장대교량의 건설이 증가하고 있다. 이러한 장대교량들은 사회적 및 경제적인 중요성이 매우 크므로 교량 완공 후 유지관리 및 구조적 건전성을 모니터링하기 위하여 교량 각 주요 구조부재에 다양한 센서를 설치함으로써 교량모니터링시스템을 구축하여 외부하중에 의한 교량구조물의 거동을 감지, 수집, 분석하여 교량의 건전성을 파악하기 위하여 장대교량의 공용성과 안전성 확보에 많은 연구가 진행 되고 있으며 현재 국내외 다수의 장대교량들에는 다양한 센서로 이루어진 구조 건전성 모니터링 시스템이 설치, 운용되고 있다. 실제로 서해대교, 광안대교, 홍콩 TsingMa Bridge, 미국 Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge와 같은 실제 교량에도 적용된 바 있다. 하지만, 이상의 구조 건전성 모니터링 시스템 기술이 널리 활용되는 데는 여러 가지 장애물이 있는데, 그 중에서 가장 큰 것이 시스템을 구축하는 데 과다한 비용이 소요된다는 점이다. 예로 홍콩의 Tsing Ma 대교의 경우 350개의 센서를 설치하는데 약 8백만불이 넘는 금액이 들었으며(Farrar 등, 2004), Celeby(2002)의 보고에 의하면 각 센서의 채널 당 케이블의 설치 비용으로 약 5000불의 비용이 소모되고 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 이러한 불편함을 극복하기 위하여 무선 센서를 개발하고, 이를 한강 상 교량 중 올림픽대교에 적용, 사장교의 구조 건전성을 저비용 및 높은 편의성으로 모니터링 하기 위한 테스트베드를 구축하여 무선 계측 시스템의 정확성 및 적용성을 확인하였다.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.421-447
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• 2004

This paper presents a time domain approach for predicting buffeting response of long suspension bridges under skew winds. The buffeting forces on an oblique strip of the bridge deck in the mean wind direction are derived in terms of aerodynamic coefficients measured under skew winds and equivalent fluctuating wind velocities with aerodynamic impulse functions included. The time histories of equivalent fluctuating wind velocities and then buffeting forces along the bridge deck are simulated using the spectral representation method based on the Gaussian distribution assumption. The self-excited forces on an oblique strip of the bridge deck are represented by the convolution integrals involving aerodynamic impulse functions and structural motions. The aerodynamic impulse functions of self-excited forces are derived from experimentally measured flutter derivatives under skew winds using rational function approximations. The governing equation of motion of a long suspension bridge under skew winds is established using the finite element method and solved using the Newmark numerical method. The proposed time domain approach is finally applied to the Tsing Ma suspension bridge in Hong Kong. The computed buffeting responses of the bridge under skew winds during Typhoon Sam are compared with those obtained from the frequency domain approach and the field measurement. The comparisons are found satisfactory for the bridge response in the main span.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.115-134
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• 2003

The Ting Kau Bridge in Hong Kong is a cable-stayed bridge comprising two main spans and two side spans. The bridge deck is supported by three towers, an end pier and an abutment. Each of the three towers consists of a single reinforced concrete mast which reduces its section in steps, and it is strengthened by transverse cables and struts in the transverse vertical plane. The bridge deck is supported by four inclined planes of cables emanating from anchorages at the tower tops. In view of the threat from typhoons, the dynamic behaviour of long-span cable-supported bridges in the region is always an important consideration in their design. This paper is devoted to the ambient vibration measurements of the bridge for evaluation of dynamic characteristics including the natural frequencies and mode shapes. It also describes the modelling of the bridge. A few finite element models are developed and calibrated to match with the field data and the results of subsequent structural health monitoring of the bridge.

• 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.