• Wind and Structures
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.67-75
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• 1998

Tiger Gate Bridge, a steel suspension bridge with a main span of 888 m and a stiffening box girder, is located at the Pearl River Estuary, Guangdong Province, one of the typhoon-prone area in China. Focusing on the developing of the full aeroelastic model of the bridge and simulation of the wind field of the bridge site in a large boundary wind tunnel at Tongji University, Shanghai, China, some main results about the wind resistant properties of the bridge including aerodynamic instability, buffeting responses both being in operation and erection stages by using of a full aeroelastic model wind tunnel testing are introduced. Some of analytical approaches to those aerodynamic behaviours are also presented, and compared with experimental data of the testing.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.43-58
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• 2020

Pile foundations of existing bridges lie in soil and water environment for long term and endure relatively heavy vertical loads, thus prone to damages, especially after stricken by external forces, such as earthquake, collision, soil heap load and etc., and the piles may be injured to certain degrees as well. There is a relatively complete technical system for quality inspection of new bridge pile foundations without structures on the top. However, there is no mature technical standard in the engineering community for the non-destructive testing technology specific to the existing bridge pile foundations. The quality of bridge pile foundations has always been a major problem that plagues bridge maintenance. On the basis of many years' experiences in test engineering and theoretical studies, this study developed a new type of detection technology and equipment for the existing bridge piles.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.661-678
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• 2013

In this paper, a wireless sensing system for structural field evaluation and rating of bridges is presented. The system uses a wireless platform integrated with traditional analogue sensors including strain gages and accelerometers along with the operating software. A wireless vehicle position indicator is developed using a tri-axial accelerometer node that is mounted on the test vehicle, and was used for identifying the moving truck position during load testing. The developed software is capable of calculating the theoretical bridge rating factors based on AASHTO Load and Resistance Factor Rating specifications, and automatically produces the field adjustment factor through load testing data. The sensing system along with its application in bridge deck rating was successfully demonstrated on the Evansville Bridge in West Virginia. A finite element model was conducted for the test bridge, and was used to calculate the load distribution factors of the bridge deck after verifying its results using field data. A confirmation field test was conducted on the same bridge and its results varied by only 3% from the first test. The proposed wireless sensing system proved to be a reliable tool that overcomes multiple drawbacks of conventional wired sensing platforms designed for structural load evaluation of bridges.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.103-110
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• 2013

PURPOSES: The objective of this study is to analyze and evaluate the behavior of orthotropic steel bridge deck pavement using three-dimensional finite element analysis and full-scale wheel load testing. METHODS: Since the layer thickness and material properties used in the bridge deck pavement are different from its condition, it is very difficult to measure and access the behavior of bridge deck pavement in the field. To solve this problem, the full-scale wheel load testing was conducted on the PSMA/Mastic bridge deck pavement and the deflection of bridge deck and horizontal tensile strain on top of pavement were measured under the loading condition. Three-dimensional finite element analysis was conducted to predict the behavior of bridge deck pavement and the predicted deflection and tensile strain values are compared with measured values from the wheel loading testing. RESULTS: Test results showed that the predicted deflections are 10% lower than measured ones and the error between predicted and measured horizontal tensile strain values is less than 2% in the critical location. CONCLUSIONS: The fact indicates that the proposed the analysis is found to be accurate for estimating the behavior of bridge deck pavements.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Advanced Composite Structures
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.34-45
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• 2010

This paper describes the design, manufacturing process, testing, application, and assessment of capacity-ratings of the first all advanced composites bridge on a public highway system. In order to verify the bridge design prior to the field application, a sub-scale bridge superstructure was built and tested in the laboratory. The field load test results were compared with those of the finite element analysis for the verification of validity. To investigate its in-service performance, field load testing and visual inspections were conducted under an actual service environment. The paper includes the presentation and discussion for advanced composites bridge capacity rating based on the stress modification coefficients obtained from the test results. The test result indicates that the advanced composites bridge has no structural problems and is structurally performing well in-service as expected. Since these composite materials are new to bridge applications, reliable data is not available for their in-service performance. The results may provide a baseline data for future field advanced composites bridge capacity rating assessments and also serve as part of a long-term performance of advanced composites bridge.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.371-382
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• 2023

Box girder bridges are now widely used in bridge construction, and it is necessary to perform load rating regularly to evaluate the load capacity of box girder bridges. Load testing is a common measure for load rating. However, the bridge must be loaded by many trucks under different loading conditions, which is time-consuming and laborious. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a load rating method for box girder bridges based on rapid moving loads testing. The method includes three steps. First, the quasi-influence factors of the bridge are obtained by crossing the bridge with rapidly moving loads, and the structural modal parameters are simultaneously obtained from the dynamic data to supplement. Second, an objective function is constructed, consisting of the quasi-influence factors at several measurement points and structural modal parameters. The finite element model for load rating is then updated based on the Rosenbrock method. Third, on this basis, a load rating method is proposed using the updated model. The load rating method proposed in this paper can considerably reduce the time duration of traditional static load testing and effectively utilize the dynamic and static properties of box girder bridges to obtain an accurate finite element model. The load capacity obtained based on the updated model can avoid the inconsistency of the evaluation results for the different structural members using the adjustment factors specified in codes.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.241-252
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• 2013

Because of financial and safety concerns, there are needs for more accurate prediction of bridge behavior. Underestimation of the bridge load carrying capacity can have serious economic consequences, as deficient bridges must be repaired or rehabilitated. Therefore, the knowledge of the actual bridge behavior under live load may lead to a more realistic calculation of the load carrying capacity and eventually this may allow for more bridges to remain in service with or without minor repairs. The presented research is focused on the reliability evaluation of the actual load carrying capacity of existing bridges based on the field testing. Seventeen existing bridges were tested under truck load to confirm their adequacy of reliability. The actual response of existing bridge structures under live load is measured. Reliability analysis is performed on the selected representative bridges designed in accordance with AASHTO codes for bridge component (girder). Bridges are first evaluated based on the code specified values and design resistance. However, after the field testing program, it is possible to apply the experimental results into the bridge reliability evaluation procedures. Therefore, the actual response of bridge structures, including unintentional composite action, partial fixity of supports, and contribution of nonstructural members are considered in the bridge reliability evaluation. The girder distribution factors obtained from the tests are also applied in the reliability calculation. The results indicate that the reliability indices of selected bridges can be significantly increased by reducing uncertainties without sacrificing the safety of structures, by including the result of field measurement data into calculation.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.367-384
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• 2017

The Maanshan Bridge over Yangtze River in China is a new long-span suspension bridge with double main spans of $2{\times}1080m$ and a closed streamline cross-section of single box deck. The flutter and buffeting performances were investigated via wind tunnel tests of a full bridge aeroelastic model at a geometric scale of 1:211. The tests were conducted in both smooth wind and simulated boundary layer wind fields. Emphasis is placed on studying the interference effect of adjacent span via installing a wind deflector and a wind separating board to shelter one span of the bridge model from incoming flow. Issues related to effects of mid-tower stiffness and deck supporting conditions are also discussed. The testing results show that flutter critical wind velocities in smooth flow, with a wind deflector, are remarkably lower than those without. In turbulent wind, torsional and vertical standard deviations for the deck responses at midspan in testing cases without wind deflector are generally less than those at the midspan exposed to wind in testing cases with wind deflector, respectively. When double main spans are exposed to turbulent wind, the existence of either span is a mass damper to the other. Furthermore, both effects of mid-tower stiffness and deck supporting conditions at the middle tower on the flutter and buffeting performances of the Maanshan Bridge are unremarkable.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.259-274
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• 1998

The test results from non-destructive and destructive field testing of a three-span deteriorated reinforced concrete slab bridge are used as a vehicle to examine the reliability of available tools for finite-element analysis of in-situ structures. Issues related to geometric modeling of members and connections, material models, and failure criteria are discussed. The results indicate that current material models and failure criteria are adequate, although lack of inelastic out-of-plane shear response in most nonlinear shell elements is a major shortcoming that needs to be resolved. With proper geometric modeling, it is possible to adequately correlate the measured global, regional, and local responses at all limit states. However, modeling of less understood mechanisms, such as slab-abutment connections, may need to be finalized through a system identification technique. In absence of the experimental data necessary for this purpose, upper and lower bounds of only global responses can be computed reliably. The studies reaffirm that success of finite-element models has to be assessed collectively with reference to all responses and not just a few global measurements.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.145-167
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• 2014

Wind-vehicle-bridge (WVB) interaction can be regarded as a coupled vibration system. Aerodynamic forces and moment on vehicles and bridge decks play an important role in the vibration analysis of the coupled WVB system. High-speed vehicle motion has certain effects on the aerodynamic characteristics of a vehicle-bridge system under crosswinds, but it is not taken into account in most previous studies. In this study, a new testing system with a moving vehicle model was developed to directly measure the aerodynamic forces and moment on the vehicle and bridge deck when the vehicle model moved on the bridge deck under crosswinds in a large wind tunnel. The testing system, with a total length of 18.0 m, consisted of three main parts: vehicle-bridge model system, motion system and signal measuring system. The wind speed, vehicle speed, test objects and relative position of the vehicle to the bridge deck could be easily altered for different test cases. The aerodynamic forces and moment on the moving vehicle and bridge deck were measured utilizing the new testing system. The effects of the vehicle speed, wind yaw angle, rail track position and vehicle type on the aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle and bridge deck were investigated. In addition, a data processing method was proposed according to the characteristics of the dynamic testing signals to determine the variations of aerodynamic forces and moment on the moving vehicle and bridge deck. Three-car and single-car models were employed as the moving rail vehicle model and road vehicle model, respectively. The results indicate that the drag and lift coefficients of the vehicle tend to increase with the increase of the vehicle speed and the decrease of the resultant wind yaw angle and that the vehicle speed has more significant effect on the aerodynamic coefficients of the single-car model than on those of the three-car model. This study also reveals that the aerodynamic coefficients of the vehicle and bridge deck are strongly influenced by the rail track positions, while the aerodynamic coefficients of the bridge deck are insensitive to the vehicle speed or resultant wind yaw angle.