• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제3권3호
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• pp.341-356
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• 2007

A good understanding of normal modal variability of civil structures due to varying environmental conditions such as temperature and wind is important for reliable performance of vibration-based damage detection methods. This paper addresses the quantification of wind-induced modal variability of a cable-stayed bridge making use of one-year monitoring data. In order to discriminate the wind-induced modal variability from the temperature-induced modal variability, the one-year monitoring data are divided into two sets: the first set includes the data obtained under weak wind conditions (hourly-average wind speed less than 2 m/s) during all four seasons, and the second set includes the data obtained under both weak and strong (typhoon) wind conditions during the summer only. The measured modal frequencies and temperatures of the bridge obtained from the first set of data are used to formulate temperature-frequency correlation models by means of artificial neural network technique. Before the second set of data is utilized to quantify the wind-induced modal variability, the effect of temperature on the measured modal frequencies is first eliminated by normalizing these modal frequencies to a reference temperature with the use of the temperature-frequency correlation models. Then the wind-induced modal variability is quantitatively evaluated by correlating the normalized modal frequencies for each mode with the wind speed measurement data. It is revealed that in contrast to the dependence of modal frequencies on temperature, there is no explicit correlation between the modal frequencies and wind intensity. For most of the measured modes, the modal frequencies exhibit a slightly increasing trend with the increase of wind speed in statistical sense. The relative variation of the modal frequencies arising from wind effect (with the maximum hourly-average wind speed up to 17.6 m/s) is estimated to range from 1.61% to 7.87% for the measured 8 modes of the bridge, being notably less than the modal variability caused by temperature effect.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.123-139
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• 2005

An automatic modal identification program is developed for continuous extraction of modal parameters of three cable-supported bridges in Hong Kong which are instrumented with a long-term monitoring system. The program employs the Complex Modal Indication Function (CMIF) algorithm for identifying modal properties from continuous ambient vibration measurements in an on-line manner. By using the LabVIEW graphical programming language, the software realizes the algorithm in Virtual Instrument (VI) style. The applicability and implementation issues of the developed software are demonstrated by using one-year measurement data acquired from 67 channels of accelerometers permanently installed on the cable-stayed Ting Kau Bridge. With the continuously identified results, variability in modal vectors due to varying environmental conditions and measurement errors is observed. Such an observation is very helpful for selection of appropriate measured modal vectors for structural health monitoring use.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.35-50
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• 2008

Wind and temperature have been shown to be the critical sources causing changes in the modal properties of large-scale bridges. While the individual effects of wind and temperature on modal variability have been widely studied, the investigation about the effects of multiple environmental factors on structural modal properties was scarcely reported. This paper addresses the modeling of the simultaneous effects of wind and temperature on the modal frequencies of an instrumented cable-stayed bridge. Making use of the long-term monitoring data from anemometers, temperature sensors and accelerometers, a neural network model is formulated to correlate the modal frequency of each vibration mode with wind speed and temperature simultaneously. Research efforts have been made on enhancing the prediction capability of the neural network model through optimal selection of the number of hidden nodes and an analysis of relative strength of effect (RSE) for input reconstruction. The generalization performance of the formulated model is verified with a set of new testing data that have not been used in formulating the model. It is shown that using the significant components of wind speeds and temperatures rather than the whole measurement components as input to neural network can enhance the prediction capability. For the fundamental mode of the bridge investigated, wind and temperature together apply an overall negative action on the modal frequency, and the change in wind condition contributes less to the modal variability than the change in temperature.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.717-733
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• 2015

Modal parameters of a structure are commonly used quantities for system identification and damage detection. With a limited number of studies on the statistics assessment of modal parameters, this paper presents procedures to properly account for the uncertainties present in the process of extracting modal parameters. Particularly, this paper focuses on how to deal with the measurement error in an ambient vibration test and the modeling error resulting from a modal parameter extraction process. A bootstrap approach is adopted, when an ensemble of a limited number of noised time-history response recordings is available. To estimate the modeling error associated with the extraction process, a model prediction expansion approach is adopted where the modeling error is considered as an "adjustment" to the prediction obtained from the extraction process. The proposed procedures can be further incorporated into the probabilistic analysis of applications where the modal parameters are used. This study considers the effects of the measurement and modeling errors and can provide guidance in allocating resources to improve the estimation accuracy of the modal data. As an illustration, the proposed procedures are applied to extract the modal data of a damaged beam, and the extracted modal data are used to detect potential damage locations using a damage detection method. It is shown that the variability in the modal parameters can be considered to be quite low due to the measurement and modeling errors; however, this low variability has a significant impact on the damage detection results for the studied beam.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제6권8호
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• pp.905-920
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• 2010

Changes in temperature, loads and boundary conditions may have effects on the dynamic properties of large civil structures. Taking the Run Yang Suspension Bridge as an example, modal properties obtained from ambient vibration tests and from the structural health monitoring system of the bridge are used to identify and evaluate the modal parameter variability. Comparisons of these modal parameters reveal that several low-order modes experience a significant change in frequency from the completion of the bridge to its operation. However, the correlation analysis between measured modal parameters and the temperature shows that temperature has a slight influence on the low-order modal frequencies. Therefore, this paper focuses on the effects of the boundary conditions on the dynamic behaviors of the suspension bridge. An analytical model is proposed to perform a sensitivity analysis on modal parameters of the bridge concerning the stiffness of expansion joints located at two ends of bridge girders. It is concluded that the boundary conditions have a significant influence on the low-order modal parameters of the suspension bridge. In addition, the influence of vehicle load on modal parameters is also investigated based on the proposed model.

• 한국지진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국지진공학회 2001년도 추계 학술발표회 논문집 Proceedings of EESK Conference-Fall 2001
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• pp.200-207
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• 2001

This paper introduces a methodology of seismic fragility analysis and discusses the basic input variables, focusing on the conservatism and variability of reference response spectrum. The procedures to consider the composite modal damping in the seismic fragility analysis is presented and its effects on the seismic capacity of structure is evaluated through an example analysis of the nuclear power plant structure which has typical composite modal damping characteristics. Two seismic fragility analyses were performed to obtain the seismic capacities which evaluated by considering the composite modal damping and the single damping characteristics. The results showed that the seismic fragility analysis without considering the different values of composite modal damping may considerably overestimate the seismic capacity of coupled structures.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제19권6호
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• pp.653-663
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• 2017

The modal parameters of the deck of Runyang Suspension Bridge (RSB) as well as their relationships with wind and temperature are studied based on the data recorded by its Structural Health Monitoring System (SHMS). Firstly, frequency analysis on the vertical responses at the two sides of the deck is carried out to distinguish the vertical and torsional vibration modes. Then, the vertical, torsional and lateral modal parameters of the deck of RSB are identified using Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) and validated by the identified results before RSB was opened to traffic. On the basis of this, the modal frequencies and damping ratios of RSB during the whole process of Typhoon Masta are obtained. And the correlation analysis on the modal parameters and wind environmental factors is then conducted. Results show that the HHT can achieve an accurate modal identification of RSB and the damping ratios show an obvious decay trend as the frequencies increase. Besides, compared to frequencies, the damping ratios are more sensitive to the environmental factors, in particular, the wind speed. Further study on configuring the variation law of modal parameters related with environmental factors should be continued.

• 한국소음진동공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국소음진동공학회 2003년도 추계학술대회논문집
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• pp.608-613
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• 2003

In this paper, the variability of modal properties caused by temperature effects is assessed to adjust modal data used for frequency-based damage detection in plate-girder bridges. First, experiments on model plate-girder bridges are described. Next, the relationship between temperature and natural frequencies is assessed and a set of empirical frequency-correction formula are analyzed for the test structure. Finally, a frequency-eased method is used to locate and estimate severity of damage in the test structure using experimental modal data which are adjusted by the frequency-correction formula. Here, local damage in beam-type structures is detected by using measured frequencies and analytical mode shapes.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제13권5호
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• pp.755-773
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• 2014

The natural frequency of a bridge is an important parameter in many engineering applications such as bridge seismic design and modal-based bridge health monitoring. The natural frequency of a bridge vibrating alone may differ from that vibrating along with a vehicle. Although such vehicle-induced variability in bridge frequency is revealed in several experimental and numerical simulation studies, few attempts have been made on the theoretical descriptions. In this study, both theoretically and experimentally, the variability in the bridge frequency induced by a parked vehicle is verified, and is therefore suggested to be considered in bridge-related engineering, especially for those cases with near vehicle-bridge resonance conditions or with large vehicle-to-bridge mass ratios. Moreover, the variability ranges could be estimated by an analytical formula presented herein.

• 한국전산구조공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전산구조공학회 2003년도 가을 학술발표회 논문집
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• pp.535-540
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• 2003

The objective of this paper is to assess the variability of modal properties caused by temperature effects and to adjust modal data used for frequency-based damage detection in plate-girder bridges. First, experiments on model plate-girder bridges are described. Next, the relationship between temperature and natural frequencies is assessed and a set of empirical frequency-correction formula are analyzed for the test structure. Finally, a frequency-based method is used to locate and estimate severity of damage in the test structure using experimental modal data which are adjusted by the frequency-correction formula. Here, local damage in beam-type structures is detected by using measured frequencies and analytical mode shapes.