ASSESSMENT OF HIGHWAY BRIDGE UPGRADING BY DYNAMIC TESTING AND FINITE-ELEMENT MODEL UPDATING

The Land Transport Authority of Singapore has a continuing program of highway bridge upgrading for refurbishing and strengthening bridges to allow for increasing vehicle traffic and increasing axle loads. One subject of this program has been a short-span bridge taking a busy main road across a coastal inlet near a major port facility. Experiment-based structural assessments of the bridge were conducted before and after upgrading works including strengthening. Each assessment exercise comprised three separate components: (1) a strain and acceleration monitoring exercise lasting approximately one month; (2) a full-scale dynamic test carried out in a single day without closing the bridge; and (3) a finite-element model updating exercise to identify structural parameters and mechanisms. This paper presents the dynamic testing and the modal analysis used to identify the vibration properties and the quantification of the effectiveness of the upgrading through the subsequent model updating. Before and after upgrade, similar sets of vibration modes were identified, resembling those of an orthotropic plate with relatively weak transverse bending stiffness. Conversion of bearings from nominal simple supports to nominal full fixity was shown via model updating to be the principal cause of natural frequency increases of up to 50%. The utility of the combined experimental and analytical process in direct identification of structural properties has been proven, and the procedure can be applied to other structures and their capacity assessments.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/32947845
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  1801 Alexander Bell Drive
  Reston, VA  United States  20191-4400
• Authors:
  • BROWNJOHN, JMW
  • MOYO, P
  • OMENZETTER, P
  • Lu, Yu
• Publication Date: 2003-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 162-172
• Serial:
  • Journal of Bridge Engineering
  • Volume: 8
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
  • ISSN: 1084-0702
  • Serial URL: http://ojps.aip.org/beo

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Before and after studies; Dynamic tests; Evaluation and assessment; Field tests; Finite element method; Highway bridges; Modernization; Orthotropic plates; Rehabilitation; Stiffness; Structural analysis; Structural strengthening; Vibration
• Geographic Terms: Singapore
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Highways; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00941219
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 26 2003 12:00AM