Bridge Load Rating Using Dynamic Response
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 29, Issue 4
Abstract
Proposed herein is a method for load rating of prestressed box beam (PSBB) bridges based on their dynamic response collected using wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The hypothesis states that the health of a bridge is associated with its vibration signatures. Two WSNs were deployed on a 25-year-old PSBB bridge, and trucks were run with variable loads and speeds for collecting its real-time dynamic response at current condition. Also performed were finite-element (FE) simulations of 3D bridge models under vehicular loads to acquire the representative dynamic response at its newest condition. The bridge model was validated by field testing and numerical analysis. The fast Fourier transform and peak-picking algorithms were used to find maximum peak amplitudes and their corresponding frequencies. The in-service stiffness of the bridge was calculated to determine its load rating, which resembles the actual load rating of the bridge. The application software developed from this research can instantly determine the load rating of a PSBB bridge by collecting its real-time dynamic response. The research outcome will help reduce bridge maintenance costs and increase public safety.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The researchers would like to thank the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration for funding this research. The researchers would also like to express sincere gratitude and thanks towards Mahoning, Ashtabula, and Trumbull County personnel and Ohio State Highway Patrol officers for their valuable support during the data collection on both bridges. They greatly acknowledge and appreciate the financial support provided by the Youngstown State University Center for Transportation and Materials Engineering.
References
AASHTO. (2007). AASHTO LRFD bridge design specifications, SI units, 4th Ed., Washington, DC.
AASHTO. (2008). Bridging the gap, Washington, DC.
AASHTO. (2013). “AASHTOWare: Bridge Analytical Rating Software (BARS).” 〈http://www.aashtoware.org/Bridge/Pages/Rating.aspx?PID=3〉 (Oct. 16, 2013).
ABAQUS. (2012). ABAQUS/CAE user’s manual, Dassault Systemes Simulia Corp., Providence, RI.
ASCE. (2013). Report card on America’s infrastructure, Reston, VA.
Caffrey, J., et al. (2004). “Networked sensing for structural health monitoring.” Proc., 4th Int. Workshop on Structural Control, Columbia Univ., New York, 57–66.
Chen, S. E., Siswobusono, P., Delatte, N., and Stephens, B. J. (2002). Feasibility study on dynamic bridge load rating, University Transportation Center for Alabama (UTCA).
Chowdhury, M. R. (1999). Rapid beam load capacity assessment using dynamic measurements, Research Structural Engineering, Structures Laboratory, U.S. Army Engineering Waterways Experimental Station, Vicksburg, MS.
Cooley, J. W., and Tukey, J. W. (1965). An algorithm for the machine calculation of complex Fourier series, IBM Watson Research Center/Bell Telephone Laboratories/Princeton Univ., Yorktown Heights, NY/Murray Hill, NJ.
Gangone, M. V., Whelan, M. J., Janoyan, K. D., and Jha, R. (2008). “Field deployment of a dense wireless sensor network for condition assessment of a bridge superstructure.” SPIE Smart Structures Symp., Int. Society for Optics and Photonics, Bellingham, WA.
Islam, A. K. M. A., Dempsey, P. J., Feldman, J., and Larsen, C. (2013). “Characterization and comparison of vibration transfer paths in a helicopter gearbox and a fixture mounted gearbox.” NASA Technical Memorandum, NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH.
Kim, S., et al. (2007). “Health monitoring of civil infrastructures using wireless sensor networks.” Proc., 6th Int. Conf. on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (IPSN 2007), ACM Press, Cambridge, MA, 254–263.
Lichtenstein, A. (1993). “Bridge rating through non-destructive load testing.” Final draft, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.
Lynch, J. P., Sundararajan, A., and Law, K. H. (2004). “Embedding damage detection algorithms in a wireless sensing unit for operational power efficiency.” Smart Mater. Struct., 13(800).
Lynch, J. P., Wang, Y., Loh, K. J., Yi, J., and Yun, C. (2006). “Performance monitoring of the Geumdang Bridge using a dense network of high-resolution wireless sensors.” Smart Mater. Struct., 15(6), 1561–1575.
Microsoft. (2012). Microsoft Visual Studio 2012, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA.
Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). (2010). Manual of bridge inspection (MBI). Columbus, OH.
Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). (2011). Bridge design manual (BDM). Columbus, OH.
Oracle. (2013). Sun small programmable object technology (Sun SPOT) sensors, Redwood City, CA.
Romero, R., Summers, H., and Cronkhite, J. (1996). “Feasibility study of a rotorcraft health and usage monitoring system (HUMS): Results of operators evaluation.”, February 1996.
Russell, H. G. (2008). “Adjacent precast box beam bridges: Connection details.” National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis, 20-05/Topic 39–10, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC.
Samali, B., Crews, K., Li, J., Bakoss, S., and Champion, C. (2003). Assessing the load carrying capacity of timber bridges using dynamic methods, Institute of Public Works Engineering, Sydney, Australia.
Straser, E. G., and Kiremidjian, A. S. (1998). “A modular, wireless damage monitoring system for structures.”, Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA.
Tedesco, J. W., McDougal, W. G., and Ross, C. A. (1999). Structural dynamics: Theory and applications. Addison-Wesley Longman, Menlo Park, CA.
USDOT. (2012). Transportation statistics annual report, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Table 1–28: Condition of U.S. Highway bridges, Washington, DC.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 29 • Issue 4 • August 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 11, 2014
Accepted: Apr 21, 2014
Published online: Sep 4, 2014
Discussion open until: Feb 4, 2015
Published in print: Aug 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.