Experimental Evaluation of Dynamic Effects for a Selected Highway Bridge
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 20, Issue 3
Abstract
The paper presents an experimental study of the actual dynamic effects for a preselected typical highway bridge. Knowledge of the dynamic impact factors is important for accurate determination of the ultimate load capacity and performance assessment of constructed bridges. Static and dynamic field tests were performed on a two-lane concrete highway bridge built in 1999 on U.S. 90 in northwest Florida. During the tests, one or two fully loaded trucks crossed over the bridge, which was instrumented with strain gauges, accelerometers, and displacement transducers. A wooden plank was placed across the lanes for some runs to trigger extensive dynamic vibration and to simulate poor road surface conditions. Data collected from the tests were used for comprehensive assessment of the bridge under dynamic loading. Impact factors obtained from the tests with higher speeds were found larger than corresponding values recommended by bridge codes. Analysis revealed that stiff vehicle suspension, road surface imperfection, and “bouncing” of the truck loading contributed to the high impact factors. Experimental data were also used for validation of the finite-element models developed for the vehicle–bridge system.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The study reported in this paper is supported by a grant from the Florida Department of Transportation titled Analytical and Experimental Evaluation of Existing Florida DOT Bridges, Contract No. BD 493. Opinions and views expressed in this paper are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the sponsoring agency. The writers would like to express their appreciation for this generous support. The field tests were professionally performed by the Structures Lab of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Thanks are due to Mr. Marcus Ansley, director of the Structures Laboratory of the FDOT, for his commitment, advice, and technical support during experimental testing.
References
AASHTO. (1994). LRFD bridge design specifications, 1st Ed. (SI units), Washington, D.C.
AASHTO. (2002). Standard specifications for highway bridges, 17th Ed., Washington, D.C.
Alaylioglu, H., and Alaylioglu, A. (1997). “Dynamic structural assessment of a highway bridge via hybrid FE model and in situ testing.” Comput. Struct., 63, 439–453.
Chan, T. H. T., and O'Connor, C. (1990). “Wheel loads from highway bridge strains: Field studies.” J. Struct. Eng., 116(7), 1751–1771.
Chopra, A. K. (2001). Dynamics of structures, 2nd Ed., Prentice-Hall, N.J.
Green, R. (1977). “Dynamic response of bridge superstructures—Ontario observations.” Supplementary Rep. SR 275, Transportation and Road Research Lab, Crowthorne, England, 40–48.
Huang, D., Wang, T.-L., and Shahawy, M. (1993). “Impact studies of multigirder concrete bridges.” J. Struct. Eng., 119(8), 2387–2402.
Lardies, J., and Gouttebroze, S. (2002). “Identification of modal parameters using wavelet transform.” Int. J. Mech. Sci., 44, 263–2283.
Livermore Software Technology Corp. (1998). LS-DYNA theoretical manual, Livermore, Calif.
Marzougui, D., Jin, S., and Livingston, R. A. (2001). “Development of an LS-DYNA nonlinear finite element model for use in damage detecting and health monitoring of highway bridge.” Proc. SPIE, Vol. 4337, Bellingham, Wash., 432–440.
Nowak, A. S., Kim, S., and Stankiewicz, P. R. (2000). “Analysis and diagnostic testing of a bridge.” Comput. Struct., 77, 91–100.
Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Communication. (1983). Ontario highway bridge design code, Highway Engineering Division, Ontario, Canada.
Ren, W. X., and Zong, Z. H. (2004). “Output-only modal parameter identification of civil engineering structures.” Struct. Eng. Mech., 17, 1–16.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 20 • Issue 3 • August 2006
Pages: 253 - 260
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Apr 19, 2005
Accepted: Oct 17, 2005
Published online: Aug 1, 2006
Published in print: Aug 2006
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.