• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.527-538
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• 2010

This paper presents a nondestructive evaluation approach for system identification (SID) of real railway bridges using field vibration test results. First, a multi-phase SID scheme designed on the basis of eigenvalue sensitivity concept is presented. Next, the proposed multi-phase approach is evaluated from field vibration tests on a real railway bridge (Wondongcheon bridge) located in Yangsan, Korea. On the steel girder bridge, a few natural frequencies and mode shapes are experimentally measured under the ambient vibration condition. The corresponding modal parameters are numerically calculated from a three-dimensional finite element (FE) model established for the target bridge. Eigenvalue sensitivities are analyzed for potential model-updating parameters of the FE model. Then, structural subsystems are identified phase-by-phase using the proposed model-updating procedure. Based on model-updating results, a baseline model and a nondestructive evaluation of test bridge are identified.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.169-175
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• 2001

Bridge load rating calculations provide a basis for determining the safe load capacity of bridge. Load rating requires engineering judgement in determining a rating value that is applicable to maintaining the safe use of the bridge and arriving at posting and permit decisions. Load testing is an effective means in calculating the rating value of bridge. In Korea, load carrying capacity of bridge is modified by response modification factor that is determined from comparisons of measured values and analysis results. The response modification factor may be corrupted by vehicle location error that is defined as the gap of test vehicle location between load testing and analysis. In this study, the effects of vehicle location error to structural response and response modification factor are investigated, and a new method for evaluating response modification factor is proposed. The random data analysis shows that the proposed method is less sensitive to vehicle location error than the present method.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2000.10b
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• pp.1273-1278
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• 2000

Bridge load rating calculations provide a basis for determining the safe load capacity of bridge. Load rating requires engineering judgement in determining a rating value that is applicable to maintaining the safe use of the bridge and arriving at posting and permit decisions. Load testing is an effective means in calculating the rating value of bridge. In Korea, load carrying capacity of bridge is modified by stress modification factor that is determined from comparisons of measured values and analysis results The stress modification factor may be corrupted by vehicle location error that is defined as the gap of test vehicle location between load testing and analysis. In this study, the effects of vehicle location error to structural response and stress modification factor are investigated, and a new method for evaluating stress modification factor is proposed. The random data analysis shows that the proposed method is less sensitive to vehicle location error than the present method.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.53-70
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• 2006

The paper summarizes the dynamic-based assessment of a reinforced concrete arch bridge, dating back to the 50's. The outlined approach is based on ambient vibration testing, output-only modal identification and updating of the uncertain structural parameters of a finite element model. The Peak Picking and the Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition techniques were used to extract the modal parameters from ambient vibration data and a very good agreement in both identified frequencies and mode shapes has been found between the two techniques. In the theoretical study, vibration modes were determined using a 3D Finite Element model of the bridge and the information obtained from the field tests combined with a classic system identification technique provided a linear elastic updated model, accurately fitting the modal parameters of the bridge in its present condition. Hence, the use of output-only modal identification techniques and updating procedures provided a model that could be used to evaluate the overall safety of the tested bridge under the service loads.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.5_6
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• pp.525-543
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• 2010

Testing and validation processes are critical tasks in developing a new hardware platform based on a new technology. This paper describes a series of experiments to evaluate the performance of a newly developed MEMS-based wireless sensor node as part of a wireless sensor network (WSN). The sensor node consists of a sensor board with four accelerometers, a thermometer and filtering and digitization units, and a MICAz mote for control, local computation and communication. The experiments include calibration and linearity tests for all sensor channels on the sensor boards, dynamic range tests to evaluate their performance when subjected to varying excitation, noise characteristic tests to quantify the noise floor of the sensor board, and temperature tests to study the behavior of the sensors under changing temperature profiles. The paper also describes a large-scale deployment of the WSN on a long-span suspension bridge, which lasted over three months and continuously collected ambient vibration and temperature data on the bridge. Statistical modal properties of a bridge tower are presented and compared with similar estimates from a previous deployment of sensors on the bridge and finite element models.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.703-718
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• 2016

Masonry arch bridges present a large segment of Iranian railway bridge stock. The ever increasing trend in traffic requires constant health monitoring of such structures to determine their load carrying capacity and life expectancy. In this respect, the performance of one of the oldest masonry arch bridges of Iranian railway network is assessed through field tests. Having a total of 11 sensors mounted on the bridge, dynamic tests are carried out on the bridge to study the response of bridge to test train, which is consist of two 6-axle locomotives and two 4-axle freight wagons. Finite element model of the bridge is developed and calibrated by comparing experimental and analytical mid-span deflection, and verified by comparing experimental and analytical natural frequencies. Analytical model is then used to assess the possibility of increasing the allowable axle load of the bridge to 25 tons. Fatigue life expectancy of the bridge is also assessed in permissible limit state. Results of F.E. model suggest an adequacy factor of 3.57 for an axle load of 25 tons. Remaining fatigue life of Veresk is also calculated and shown that a 0.2% decrease will be experienced, if the axle load is increased from 20 tons to 25 tons.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.648-660
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• 2012

Reliable response measurements are extremely important for proper bridge health monitoring but incomplete and unreliable data may be acquired due to sensor problems and environmental effects. In the case of a sensor malfunction, parts of the measured data can be missing so that the structural health condition cannot be monitored reliably. This means that the dynamic characteristics of natural frequencies can change as if the structure is damaged due to environmental effects, such as temperature variations. To overcome these problems, this paper proposes a systematic procedure of data analysis to recover missing data and eliminate the environmental effects from the measured data. It also proposes a health index calculated statistically using revised data to evaluate the health condition of a bridge. The proposed method was examined using numerically simulated data with a truss structure and then applied to a set of field data measured from a cable-stayed bridge.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.397-413
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• 2009

Composite bridges offer many advantages compared to current steel and aluminum bridges. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive on-going research program to develop innovative Diagnostic Prognostic System (DPS) and a structural evaluation of Composite Army Bridge (CAB) system. The DPS is founded on three technologies: optical fiber sensing, remote data transmission, and virtual testing. In developing this system, both laboratory and virtual test were used in different damage scenarios. Health monitoring with DPS entailed comparing live strain data to archived strained data in various bridge locations. For field repairs, a family of composite chords was subjected to simple ramp loads in search of ultimate strength. As such, composite bridge specimens showcased their strengths, heralded the viability of virtual testing, highlighted the efficacy of field repair, and confirmed the merits of health monitoring.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.395-408
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• 2015

This study aims to propose a Bayesian approach to consider changes in temperature and vehicle weight as environmental and operational factors for vibration-based long-term bridge health monitoring. The Bayesian approach consists of three steps: step 1 is to identify damage-sensitive features from coefficients of the auto-regressive model utilizing bridge accelerations; step 2 is to perform a regression analysis of the damage-sensitive features to consider environmental and operational changes by means of the Bayesian regression; and step 3 is to make a decision on the bridge health condition based on residuals, differences between the observed and predicted damage-sensitive features, utilizing 95% confidence interval and the Bayesian hypothesis testing. Feasibility of the proposed approach is examined utilizing monitoring data on an in-service bridge recorded over a one-year period. Observations through the study demonstrated that the Bayesian regression considering environmental and operational changes led to more accurate results than that without considering environmental and operational changes. The Bayesian hypothesis testing utilizing data from the healthy bridge, the damage probability of the bridge was judged as no damage.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.9 no.2 s.32
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• pp.51-62
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• 2007

Recently, the pavement distresses in the bridge deck have seriously affected the durability of bridge deck and driver's safety. The existing asphalt materials have the limitations in reducing the pavement distresses of brides deck. To protect the bridge deck and withstand the high deflection, it is necessary to develop the asphalt materials with good fatigue resistance for bridge deck pavement. The asphalt binder combined with SBS and two other admixtures has been developed for improving the resistance to fatigue cracking, productivity, and workability for bridge deck pavement. Based on the various binder test results, the developed binder is found to be PG 70-34 indicating very higher resistance against fatigue cracking. Fatigue testing, wheel tracking testing, and moisture susceptibility testing have been conducted to evaluate the performance of asphalt mixtures developed in this study. Laboratory test results show that the developed asphalt material has three times higher fatigue lives than the typical modified asphalt mixture. Full scale accelerated testing was also performed on the typical asphalt mixture and newly developed asphalt mixture to evaluate the full scale performance of asphalt mixtures. Test results indicate that the length of cracking on the new materials is only 38% of the typical material at the 250,000 load repetitions.