Displacement Monitoring and Analysis of Expansion Joints of Long-Span Steel Bridges with Viscous Dampers
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 20, Issue 9
Abstract
The often-reported premature failures of expansion joints of long-span steel bridges call for a better understanding of their performance in service conditions. This paper presents the long-term monitoring and analysis of displacements of expansion joints, with emphasis on the influence of viscous dampers that were installed to mitigate seismic responses of the bridges. Data from the three long-span steel bridges in China—the Sutong Bridge, the Runyang Suspension Bridge, and the Jiangyin Bridge—are compared. Decomposition of displacement signals in various frequency bands reveals that temperature-induced movements contribute to only a small portion of the total cumulative displacements. Because of the small but rapid movements caused by vehicle/wind loads, the cumulative displacements of long-span steel bridges may far exceed those caused by temperature changes. According to the monitoring data, the existence of viscous dampers may reduce the vehicle/wind-induced displacements but have no significant influence on the temperature-induced movements. Finite-element analyses are conducted to further validate the influence of viscous dampers on displacements of expansion joints.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
Support from the Jiangsu Transportation Department under Grant Nos. 2011Y09-2 and 2011Y03 and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu under Grant Nos. BK20130023 and BK2011611 is gratefully acknowledged.
References
AASHTO. (2012). LRFD bridge design specifications, 6th Ed., Washington, DC.
Ancich, E. J., Chirgwin, G. J., and Brown, S. C. (2006). “Dynamic anomalies in a modular bridge expansion joint.” J. Bridge Eng., 541–554.
ANSYS 10.0 [Computer software]. Canonsburg, PA, Ansys.
Butterworth, S. (1930). “On the theory of filter amplifiers.” Wireless Eng., 7(Oct), 536–541.
Cao, Y. H., Yim, J. S., Zhao, Y., and Wang, M. L. (2010). “Temperature effects on cable stayed bridge using health monitoring system: A case study.” Struct. Health Monit., 10(5), 523–537.
Chang, L.-M., and Lee, Y.-J. (2002). “Evaluation of performance of bridge deck expansion joints.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 3–9.
Deng, Y., Li, A. Q., and Ding, Y. L. (2009). “Research and application of correlation between beam end displacement and temperature of long-span suspension bridge.” J. Highway Trans. Res. Dev., 26(5), 54–58 (in Chinese).
European Committee for Standardization (CEN). (2004). “Structural bearings—Part 2: Sliding elements.” BS EN1337-2, Brussels, Belgium.
Frýba, L. (1999). Vibration of solids and structures under moving loads, Thomas Telford, Prague, Czech Republic.
Fu, C. C., and Zhang, N. (2011). “Investigation of bridge expansion joint failure using field strain measurement.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 309–316.
Guo, T., Li, A., and Li, J. (2008). “Fatigue life prediction of welded joints in orthotropic steel decks considering temperature effect and increasing traffic flow.” Struct. Health Monit., 7(3), 189–202.
Infanti, S., Kang, H. T., and Castellano, M. G. (2004). “Retrofit of bridges in Korea using viscous damper technology.” Proc., 13th World Conf. on Earthquake Engineering, Canadian Association for Earthquake Engineering, Ottawa.
Ko, J. M., and Ni, Y. Q. (2003). “Structural health monitoring and intelligent vibration control of cable-supported bridges: Research and application.” KSCE J. Civ. Eng., 7(6), 701–716.
Li, Y. F. (1992). “Safety factor of friction coefficients of PTFE bearings.” East China Highway, 3, 84–86 (in Chinese).
Lima, J. M., and de Brito, J. (2009). “Inspection survey of 150 expansion joints in road bridges.” Eng. Struct., 31(5), 1077–1084.
Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China. (2009). “Pot bearings for highway bridges.” JT/T 391-2009, Beijing, China (in Chinese).
Moroni, M. O., Boroschek, R., and Sarrazin, M. (2005). “Dynamic characteristics of Chilean bridges with seismic protection.” J. Bridge Eng., 124–132.
Mufti, A. A. (2002). “Structural health monitoring of innovative Canadian civil engineering structures.” Struct. Health Monit., 1(1), 89–103.
Ni, Y. Q., Hua, X. G., Wong, K. Y., and Ko, J. M. (2007). “Assessment of bridge expansion joints using long-term displacement and temperature measurement.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 143–151.
Roeder, C. W. (1998). “Fatigue and dynamic load measurements on modular expansion joints.” Constr. Build. Mater., 12(2–3), 143–150.
Seim, C., and Ingham, T. J. (2000). “Innovative seismic retrofit of steel bridges: Some examples.” Proc., Advanced Technology in Structural Engineering, M. Elgaaly, ed., ASCE, Reston, VA, 1–8.
Shanghai Tongji Construction Quality Inspection Station. (2008).“Report of static and dynamic tests of Sutong cable-stayed bridge.” Rep. QL-08016, Shanghai, China (in Chinese).
Soneji, B. B., and Jangid, R. S. (2007). “Passive hybrid systems for earthquake protection of cable-stayed bridge.” Eng. Struct., 29(1), 57–70.
Sorensen, O., Bloomstine, M. L., Bitsch, N., and Linneberg, P. (2007). “Design for movements in bridges.” Proc., IABSE Symp. Weimar 2007: Improving Infrastructure Worldwide, International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE), Zurich, Switzerland, 24–27.
Stanton, J. F., Roeder, C. W., and Campbell, T. I. (1999). “High-load multi-rotational bridge bearings.” NCHRP Rep. 432, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC.
Steenbergen, M. J. M. M. (2004). “Dynamic response of expansion joints to traffic loading.” Eng. Struct., 26(12), 1677–1690.
Vader, T. S., and McDaniel, C. C. (2007). “Influence of dampers on seismic response of cable-supported bridge towers.” J. Bridge Eng., 373–379.
Wong, K.-Y. (2004). “Instrumentation and health monitoring of cable-supported bridges.” Struct. Control Health Monit., 11(2), 91–124.
Zhang, Y. F., Cheng, Y., Fu, B., Chen, X. F., and Fan, Y. H. (2008). “Condition analysis and assessment of expansion joints of Jiangyin Yangzi River Bridge based on health monitoring data.” Proc., National Conf. on Strengthening, Retrofitting and Assessment of Existing Bridges, China Communications Press, Beijing, 253–258 (in Chinese).
Zuada Coelho, B., Vervuurt, A. H. J. M., Peelen, W. H. A., and Leendertz, J. S. (2013). “Dynamics of modular expansion joints: The Martinus Nijhoff Bridge.” Eng. Struct., 48(Mar), 144–154.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 20 • Issue 9 • September 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 2, 2013
Accepted: Aug 28, 2014
Published online: Sep 25, 2014
Published in print: Sep 1, 2015
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.