• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.49-60
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• 2014

For simple and accurate analysis for behaviors of multi-span suspension bridges which are expected to be frequently constructed as strait-crossing bridges, the deflection theory as the peculiar theory of a suspension bridge can be applied. This paper performs a structural analysis for four-span suspension bridges using the deflection theory. Simply-supported beams with tension are used for girders and the deflections of the beams due to the vertical loads and moments at supports are calculated. The calculation is performed iteratively until the deflections satisfy the compatibility equations of cables. The results of the deflection theory analysis considering tower rigidity are compared with those of the finite element analysis for verification. Importance of the tower rigidity for four-span suspension bridges is confirmed using various compatibility equations of the cable due to variation of the constraint conditions between main cable and top of towers. In addition, the simple parametric analysis for variation of the center tower rigidity is performed.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2007

The suppression of aerodynamic response of long-span suspension bridges during erection and after completion by using single TMD and multi TMD is presented in this paper. An advanced finite-element-based aerodynamic model that can be used to analyze both flutter instability and buffeting response in the time domain is also proposed. The frequency-dependent flutter derivatives are transferred into a time-dependent rational function, through which the coupling effects of three-dimensional aerodynamic motions under gusty winds can be accurately considered. The modal damping of a structure-TMD system is analyzed by the state-space approach. The numerical examples are performed on the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge with a main span of 1990 m. The bridge is idealized by a three-dimensional finite-element model consisting of 681 nodes. The results show that when the wind velocity is low, about 20 m/s, the multi TMD type 1 (the vertical and horizontal TMD with 1% mass ratio in each direction together with the torsional TMD with ratio of 1% mass moment of inertia) can significantly reduce the buffeting response in vertical, horizontal and torsional directions by 8.6-13%. When the wind velocity increases to 40 m/s, the control efficiency of a multi TMD in reducing the torsional buffeting response increases greatly to 28%. However, its control efficiency in the vertical and horizontal directions reduces. The results also indicate that the critical wind velocity for flutter instability during erection is significantly lower than that of the completed bridge. By pylon-to-midspan configuration, the minimum critical wind velocity of 57.70 m/s occurs at stage of 85% deck completion.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.387-402
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• 2003

In the past decades, much effort has been made towards the study of single-mode-based vibration controls with dynamic energy absorbers such as single or multiple Tuned Mass Dampers(TMDs). With the increase of bridge span length and the tendency of the bridge cross-section being more slender and streamlined, multi-mode coupled vibrations as well as their controls have become very important for large bridges susceptible to strong winds. As a simple but effective device, the TMD system especially the semi-active one has become a promising option for such coupled vibration controls. However, despite various studies of optimal controls of single-mode-based vibrations with TMDs, research on the corresponding controls of the multi-mode coupled vibrations is very rare so far. For the development of a semi-active control strategy to suppress the multi-mode coupled vibrations, a comprehensive parametric analysis on the optimal variables of this control is substantial. In the present study, a multi-mode control strategy named "three-row" TMD system is discussed and the general numerical equations are developed at first. Then a parametric study on the optimal control variables for the "three-row" TMD system is conducted for a prototype Humen Suspension Bridge, through which some useful information and a better understanding of the optimal control variables to suppress the coupled vibrations are obtained. This information lays a foundation for the design of semi-active control.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.161-184
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• 2016

Long-span suspension bridges have evolved through the years and with them, the bridge girder decks improved as well, changing their shapes from standard box-deck girders to twin box and multi-box decks sections. The aerodynamic characteristics of the new generation of twin and multiple-decks are investigated nowadays, to provide the best design wind speeds and the optimum dimensions such bridges could achieve. The multi-box Megane bridge deck is one of the new generation bridge decks, consisting of two side decks for traffic lanes and two middle decks for railways, linked between them with connecting beams. Three-dimensional CFD simulations were performed by employing the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) algorithm with a standard Smagorinsky subgrid-scale model, for $Re=9.3{\times}10^7$ and angles of attack ${\alpha}=-4^{\circ}$, $-2^{\circ}$, $0^{\circ}$, $2^{\circ}$ and $4^{\circ}$. Also, a wind tunnel experiment was performed for a scaled model, 1:80 of the Megane bridge deck section, for $Re=5.1{\times}10^5$ and the aerodynamic static coefficients were found to be in good agreement with the results obtained from the CFD-LES model. However the aerodynamic coefficients determined individually, from the CFD-LES model, for each of the traffic and railway decks of the Megane bridge, varied significantly, especially for the downstream traffic deck. Also the pressure distribution and the effect of the spacing between the connecting beams, on the wind speed profiles showed a slight increase in turbulence above the downstream traffic and railway decks.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.337-362
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• 2015

This paper presents a feasibility study on structural damage alarming and localization of long-span cable-supported bridges using multi-novelty indices formulated by monitoring-derived modal parameters. The proposed method which requires neither structural model nor damage model is applicable to structures of arbitrary complexity. With the intention to enhance the tolerance to measurement noise/uncertainty and the sensitivity to structural damage, an improved novelty index is formulated in terms of auto-associative neural networks (ANNs) where the output vector is designated to differ from the input vector while the training of the ANNs needs only the measured modal properties of the intact structure under in-service conditions. After validating the enhanced capability of the improved novelty index for structural damage alarming over the commonly configured novelty index, the performance of the improved novelty index for damage occurrence detection of large-scale bridges is examined through numerical simulation studies of the suspension Tsing Ma Bridge (TMB) and the cable-stayed Ting Kau Bridge (TKB) incurred with different types of structural damage. Then the improved novelty index is extended to formulate multi-novelty indices in terms of the measured modal frequencies and incomplete modeshape components for damage region identification. The capability of the formulated multi-novelty indices for damage region identification is also examined through numerical simulations of the TMB and TKB.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.243-262
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• 2015

Optimal sensor placement (OSP) is a critical issue in construction and implementation of a sophisticated structural health monitoring (SHM) system. The uncertainties in the identified structural parameters based on the measured data may dramatically reduce the reliability of the condition evaluation results. In this paper, the information entropy, which provides an uncertainty metric for the identified structural parameters, is adopted as the performance measure for a sensor configuration, and the OSP problem is formulated as the multi-objective optimization problem of extracting the Pareto optimal sensor configurations that simultaneously minimize the appropriately defined information entropy indices. The nondirective movement glowworm swarm optimization (NMGSO) algorithm (based on the basic glowworm swarm optimization (GSO) algorithm) is proposed for identifying the effective Pareto optimal sensor configurations. The one-dimensional binary coding system is introduced to code the glowworms instead of the real vector coding method. The Hamming distance is employed to describe the divergence of different glowworms. The luciferin level of the glowworm is defined as a function of the rank value (RV) and the crowding distance (CD), which are deduced by non-dominated sorting. In addition, nondirective movement is developed to relocate the glowworms. A numerical simulation of a long-span suspension bridge is performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the NMGSO algorithm. The results indicate that the NMGSO algorithm is capable of capturing the Pareto optimal sensor configurations with high accuracy and efficiency.