• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.495-505
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• 2009

Bridges form crucial links in the transportation network especially in high seismic risk regions. This research aims to provide a quantitative methodology for post-earthquake performance evaluation of the bridges. The experimental portion of the research involved shake table tests of a 4-span bridge which was subjected to progressively increasing amplitudes of seismic motions recorded from the Northridge earthquake. As part of this project, a high resolution long gauge fiber optic displacement sensor was developed for post-seismic evaluation of damage in the columns of the bridge. The nonlinear finite element model was developed using Opensees program to simulate the response of the bridge and the abutments to the seismic loads. The model was modified to predict the bent displacements of the bridge commensurate with the measured bent displacements obtained from experimental analysis results. Following seismic events, the tangential stiffness matrix of the whole structure is reduced due to reduction in structural strength. The nonlinear static push over analysis using current damaged stiffness matrix provides the longitudinal and transverse ultimate capacities of the bridge. Capacity loss in the transverse and longitudinal directions following the seismic events was correlated to the maximum displacements of the deck recorded during the events.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.11-22
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• 2011

The design comparison and nonlinear analysis of totally prefabricated bridge substructure systems are performed. The prefabricated bridge substructures are designed by the methods of present design and load and resistance factor design (LRFD). For the design, the current Korea Highway Bridge Code (KHBD), with DB-24 and DL-24 live loads, is used. This study evaluates the present design method of KHBD (2005) and AASHTO-LRFD (2007) for totally prefabricated bridge substructure systems. A computer program, named RCAHEST (Reinforced Concrete Analysis in Higher Evaluation System Technology), for the analysis of reinforced concrete structures, was used.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.152-158
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• 2007

Chloride attach is one of the main factors which cause the deterioration of structures. In the case highway bridges, de-ice salts very significantly increase the surface scaling due to frost action. The deteriorated concrete is subject to experience degrading of durability under chloride attach environment. In this study, diagnosis report of 147 bridges is investigated and core sample of 21 bridge decks is examined and analyzed. The results show that the cover of decks concrete is required more than 8cm for retaining bridge lifetime over 30 years.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.281-298
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• 2007

The load carrying capacity of a bridge needs to be properly assessed to operate the bridge safely and maintain it efficiently. For the evaluation of load carrying capacity considering the current state of a bridge, static and quasi-static loading tests with weight-controlled heavy trucks have been conventionally utilized. In these tests, the deflection (or strain) of the structural members loaded by the controlled vehicles are measured and analyzed. Using the measured data, deflection (or strain) correction factor and impact correction factor are calculated. These correction factors are used in the enhancement of the load carrying capacity of a bridge, reflecting the real state of a bridge. However, full or partial control of the traffic during the tests and difficulties during the installment of displacement transducers or strain gauges may cause not only inconvenience to the traffic but also the increase of the logistics cost and time. To overcome these difficulties, an alternative method is proposed using an excited response part of full measured ambient acceleration data by ordinary traffic on a bridge without traffic control. Based on the modal properties extracted from the ambient vibration data, the initial finite element (FE) model of a bridge can be updated to represent the current real state of a bridge. Using the updated FE model, the deflection of a bridge akin to the real value can be easily obtained without measuring the real deflection. Impact factors are obtained from pseudo-deflection, which is obtained by double-integration of the acceleration data with removal of the linear components on the acceleration data. For validation, a series of tests were carried out on a steel plategirder bridge of an expressway in Korea in four different seasons, and the evaluated load carrying capacities of the bridge by the proposed method are compared with the result obtained by the conventional load test method.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.769-780
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• 2017

Cable force monitoring is an essential and critical part of the safety evaluation of cable-supported bridges. A reasonable cable force monitoring scheme, particularly, sensor placement related to accurate safety assessment and budget cost-saving becomes a major concern of bridge administrative authorities. This paper presents optimal sensor placement for cable force monitoring by selecting representative sensor positions, which consider the spatial correlativeness existing in the cable group. The limited sensors would be utilized for maximizing useful information from the monitored bridges. The maximum information coefficient (MIC), mutual information (MI) based kernel density estimation, as well as Pearson coefficients, were all employed to detect potential spatial correlation in the cable group. Compared with the Pearson coefficient and MIC, the mutual information is more suitable for identifying the association existing in cable group and thus, is selected to describe the spatial relevance in this study. Then, the bond energy algorithm, which collects clusters based on the relationship of surrounding elements, is used for the optimal placement of cable sensors. Several optimal placement strategies are discussed with different correlation thresholds for the cable group of Nanjing No.3 Yangtze River Bridge, verifying the effectiveness of the proposed method.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.505-522
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• 2015

Variation of temperature is a primary environmental factor that affects the behavior of structures. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of normal temperature-induced variations of structural behavior would help in distinguishing them from anomalies. In this study, we used the structural health monitoring data of the Shanghai Yangtze River Bridge, a steel girder cable-stayed bridge, to investigate the mechanisms of thermally induced vertical deflection ($D_T$) at mid-span of such bridges. The $D_T$ results from a multisource combination of thermal expansion effects of the cable temperature ($T_{Cab}$), girder temperature ($T_{Gir}$), girder differential temperature ($T_{Dif}$), and tower temperature ($T_{Tow}$). It could be approximated by multiple linear superpositions under operational conditions. The sensitivities of $D_T$ of the Shanghai Yangtze River Bridge to the above temperatures were in the following order: $T_{Cab}$ > $T_{Gir}$ > $T_{Tow}$ > $T_{Dif}$. However, the direction of the effect of $T_{Cab}$ was observed to be opposite to that of the other three temperatures, and the magnitudes of the effects of $T_{Cab}$ and $T_{Gir}$ were found to be almost one order greater than those of $T_{Dif}$ and $T_{Tow}$. The mechanisms of the thermally induced vertical deflection variation at mid-span of a cable-stayed bridge as well as the analytical methodology adopted in this study could be applicable for other long-span cable-stayed bridges.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.88 no.1
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• pp.53-65
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• 2023

With the gradual implementation of long-span suspension bridges into high-speed railway operations, the main beam's bending stiffness contribution to the live load response permanently grows. Since another critical control parameter of railway suspension bridges is the beam-end rotation angle, it should not be ignored by treating the main beam deflection as the only deformation response. To this end, the current study refines the existing method of the main cable shape and simply supported beam bending moment analogy. The bending stiffness of the main beam is considered, and the main beam's analytical expressions of deflection and rotation angle in the whole span are obtained using the cable-beam deformation coordination relationship. Taking a railway suspension bridge as an example, the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed analytical method are verified by the finite element method (FEM). Comparison of the results by FEM and the analytical method ignoring the main beam stiffness revealed that the bending stiffness of the main beam strongly contributed to the live load response. Under the same live load, as the main beam stiffness increases, the overall deformation of the structure decreases, and the reduction is particularly noticeable at locations with original larger deformations. When the main beam stiffness is increased to a certain extent, the stiffening effect is no longer pronounced.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.253-264
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• 2013

A major difference between high-strength reinforcing steel and conventional steel in concrete is that the service-load steel stress is expected to be greater. Consequently, the service-load steel strains are greater affecting cracking behavior. A parametric study investigating crack widths and patterns in reinforced concrete prisms is presented in order to establish limits to the service-load steel stress and strain. Additionally, based on the results of available flexural tests, crack widths at service load levels were evaluated and found to be within presently accepted limits for highway bridge structures, and were predictable using current AASHTO provisions. A limitation on service-level stresses of $f_s{\leq}414$ MPa (60 ksi) is nonetheless recommended.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.755-764
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• 2016

In this paper, to verify the field application of a displacement estimation technique based on the relationship between displacement and strain, static and dynamic field load test are performed on three-span continuous real bridge structures. The superstructure types of the test bridges are IPC girder highway bridge and steel box girder AGT bridge. LVDTs and strain gauges are attached to them; then, the responses due to test vehicle are measured. To obtain the displacement-strain relationship of the test bridges, the bridges are modeled as grillage system with 6 DOFs for the purpose of structural analyses. Static and dynamic displacements, which are estimated using both the calculated displacement-strain relationship and the measured strain signal, agree well with the values measured by LVDT. This study demonstrates that the displacement estimation technique using the strain signal can be effectively applied to the displacement measurement of bridge structures that cross rivers/roads/railways or have high clearance.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.511-520
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• 2007

There is a concern with worldwide deterioration of highway bridges, particularly reinforced concrete. The advantages of fibre reinforced plastic(FRP) composites over conventional materials motivate their use in highway bridges for replacement of structures. Recently, an FRP deck has been installed on a state highway, located in New York State, as an experimental project. In this paper, a systematic approach for analysis of this FRP deck bridge is presented. Multi-step linear numerical analyses have been performed using the finite element method to study the structural behavior and the possible failure mechanism of the FRP deck-superstructure system. Deck's self-weight and ply orientations at the interface between steel girders and FRP deck are considered in this study. From this research, the results of the numerical analyses were corroborated with field test results. Analytical results reveal several potential failure mechanism for the FRP deck and truss bridge system. The results presented in this study may be used to propose engineering design guideline for new and replacement FRP bridge deck structure.