Traffic load modelling based on structural health monitoring data

Live and fatigue load models are foundations for the life-cycle design of highway bridges. Many highway bridges are now equipped with structural health monitoring (SHM) systems, which provide valuable data to establish load models. In this paper, traffic load models of the Binzhou Yellow River Highway Bridge are developed based on the field measurement of vehicles by an existing SHM system. The probabilistic distribution model and extreme value distribution of gross vehicle weight are statistically analysed using the monitoring data. The results indicate that they follow the bimodal lognormal and Gumbel distributions, respectively. The fatigue load spectrum is also studied. The logistic model is employed to predict the long-term traffic volume, and its parameters of the logistic model are updated using the monitored traffic volume. The combination of the fatigue load spectrum and the traffic volume forecast using the updated logistic model provides a load model for estimation of fatigue damage evolution of bridges.     

Optimization of bridge maintenance strategies based on structural health monitoring information

Highway bridges are subjected to strength degradation processes. Under budget constraints, it is important to determine the best maintenance strategies. Optimized strategies, based on prediction models, are already considered for the maintenance and operation of highway bridges. Prediction models are updated both in space and time by using non-destructive testing methods. Nevertheless, there is an urgent need for the efficient inclusion of structural health monitoring (SHM) data in structural assessment and prediction models. Indeed, SHM allows keeping strength degradation processes under control and should be included in life-cycle cost models. The lifetime reliability of structures is characterized by survivor functions. The SHM data enable to update the probability density function of time to failure through a Bayesian process. The aim of this paper is threefold: (a) to include SHM data in a bridge life-cycle cost analysis, (b) to determine optimal maintenance strategies based on monitoring information, and (c) to show the benefits of SHM. Optimal strategies are determined considering the cases without and with including monitoring results; the benefit of monitoring is then highlighted. The proposed concepts are applied to the I-39 Northbound Bridge over the Wisconsin River in Wisconsin, USA. A monitoring program of that bridge was performed by the ATLSS Engineering Research Center at Lehigh University.     

Necessity of the bridge health monitoring system to mitigate natural and man-made disasters

In Korea, there has been a wide consensus about the necessity of bridge monitoring systems. This is primarily due to a chain of accidental bridge collapses over the past decade. The first generation bridge monitoring system originated from an instrumentation system introduced upon the reconstruction of the New-Haengju Bridge after its sudden collapse in 1995. After that, on-line instrumentation systems were installed in existing cable-supported bridges including Namhae, Jindo and Dolsan Bridges. These systems can be considered the second generation bridge health monitoring systems (BHMSs). These were then followed by the development of the third generation bridge monitoring systems installed and currently in service on the Seohae and Yeongjong Bridges. This study tracks the background and advent of Korean bridge monitoring systems and their developmental history up to the present time. It also investigates current associated studies in progress and the limitations of contemporary BHMS technologies, and suggests possible remedial solutions for a follow-up bridge monitoring system.     

斜拉桥结构健康监测系统的设计与实现(I):系统设计

结构智能健康监测愈来愈成为重大工程结构健康与安全的重要保障技术,也愈来愈成为重大工程结构损伤积累乃至灾害演变规律的重要研究手段。斜拉桥健康监测系统是由传感器子系统、数据采集与传输子系统、结构分析子系统和数据管理子系统组成的,不同系统的谐调运行需要通过系统集成技术来实现。首先从监测内容、等级和功能等方面研究健康监测系统的总体设计原则;然后,分局部监测变量和整体监测变量研究传感器的最优测点确定方法和原则,提出传感器的选型原则;提出数据采集系统的总线设计方法和方案,研究数据采集系统硬件和软件设计方法;提出数据传输系统的设计原则和方法;给出斜拉桥基于构件和基于结构体系的安全评定设计方法;提出斜拉桥施工监控、成桥试验、运营健康监测和养护管理四位一体系统的共享设计原则;提出系统集成技术的软件设计方法。     

Health monitoring system of a self-anchored suspension bridge (planning,design and installation/operation)

Recent advances in sensing technologies make it feasible and practic al to install sensors on expensive civil infrastructures, such as bridges, for safety monitoring during construction and long-term assessment of the structures condition. This paper presents a case study of a structural health monitoring (SHM) and bridge management system (BMS) installed in Yeongjong Bridge in South Korea. This is a self-anchored suspension bridge on the expressway that links Seoul to Incheon International Airport. Experimental data have been collected from the bridge for two years, since its completion in 2000. This paper presents a list of examples where the structural health monitoring system can be applied and provides general guidelines and recommendations for deploying a monitoring system in terms of (1) sensing and instrumentation, (2) data collection and signal processing, and (3) information processing.     

大跨缆索支承型桥梁健康监测与评估系统的设计研究

随着我国经济迅速发展,对于交通运输能力的要求不断提高,结构健康监测（Structural Health Monitoring,SHM）系统越来越成为大型桥梁运营、养护管理、安全评估与维护的重要技术支撑。本文针对目前国内外大跨桥梁结构健康监测系统中存在的问题,围绕“结构健康监测、日常养护检测系统、周期检测相结合,综合建立大跨桥梁结构状态识别与安全评估系统”的思想,主要就建立大跨缆索支承型桥梁结构健康监测系统中的问题进行了研究,提出了明确的系统的总体设计原则、构成以及功能目标,对系统设计与安全评估目标的关系问题进行了分析研究,阐述了监测项目选择、传感器子系统、数据采集与传输子系统、数据处理与控制子系统、结构状态识别与安全评估子系统的设计原则或思路。     

Investigation concerning structural health monitoring of an instrumented cable-stayed bridge

In Hong Kong, a sophisticated long-term structural health monitoring system has been devised by the Highways Department of HKSAR Government to monitor the structural performance and health conditions of three cable-supported bridges. On-structure instrumentation systems for two new long-span bridges are also being implemented. The implementation of these monitoring systems highlights the necessity for developing a monitoring-based structural health evaluation paradigm for long-span bridges. This paper describes the research directed towards this that has been conducted in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Taking the instrumented cable-stayed Ting Kau Bridge as a paradigm, the research covers the development of an index system and a database system for monitoring data management, the modelling of the environmental variability of measured modal properties with the intention of eliminating environmental effects in vibration-based damage detection, and the feasibility of using measured modal properties from the deployed vibration sensors for structural damage identification.     

Reliability assessment of cable-stayed bridges based on structural health monitoring techniques

This paper presents the reliability analysis approach of long-span cable-stayed bridges based on structural health monitoring (SHM) technology. First, the framework of structural reliability analysis is recognised based on SHM. The modelling approach of vehicle loads and environmental actions and the extreme value of responses based on SHM are proposed, and then models of vehicle and environmental actions and the extreme value of inner force are statistically obtained using the monitored data of a cable-stayed bridge. For the components without FBG strain sensors, the effects and models (extreme values) of dead load, unit temperature load, and wind load of the bridge can be calculated by the updated finite element model and monitored load models. The bearing capacity of a deteriorated structure can be obtained by the updated finite element model or durability analysis. The reliability index of the bridge's critical components (stiffening girder in this study) can be estimated by using a reliability analysis method, e.g. first order reliability method (FORM) based on the models of extreme value of response and ultimate capacity of the structure. Finally, the proposed approach is validated by a practical long-span cable-stayed bridge with the SHM system. In the example, reliability indices of the bridge's stiffening girder at the stage after repair and replacement after 18 years of operation, and the damaged stage are evaluated.     

利用少量传感器信息与人工智能的桥梁结构安全监测新方法

分析了当前结构安全监测在工程应用中存在的诸多问题和挑战,提出应发展利用少量传感器信息及基于大数据与人工智能的安全监测新方法,来克服现有系统传感器繁多、造价昂贵、海量数据难以处理的问题。介绍了单测点信息的多维相空间方法和单传感器信息的重构相空间方法;在基于双传感器信息的移动互相关函数法基础上,提出了基于双传感器信息的移动传递熵方法;阐述了基于少量传感器信息的移动主成分分析法的物理意义及其工程应用的适用性和可行性。利用单传感器方法和移动主成分分析法,以及小波包能量法、二次协方差矩阵法对虎门大桥进行长达5年的安全监测。阐述了基于深度学习的结构安全监测人工智能方法及其发展概况,分析了基于结构动力学信息的深度学习方法及其巨大的应用潜力。在此基础上进一步思考了基于少量传感器和人工智能相结合的方法在结构安全监测应用中的发展思路。结果表明:单传感器信息的重构相空间方法更适用于实际工程;基于双传感器信息的移动互相关函数法和移动传递熵方法均能精确定位损伤;移动主成分分析法最适用于实际工程的实时监测。     

Structural Health Monitoring System for the Shandong Binzhou Yellow River Highway Bridge

Abstract:   Structural health monitoring (SHM) provides a useful tool for ensuring safety and detecting the evolution of damage and performance deterioration of civil infrastructures. A great number of civil infrastructures under construction can be used as test beds for SHM systems. The Binzhou Yellow River Highway Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge in Shandong Province, China. An SHM system has been implemented on this bridge during its construction for monitoring its health status and assessing its safety for long-term services. The system includes a sensor module, a data acquisition module, a wired and wireless data transmit module, a structural analysis module, a database module, and a warning module. It is integrated by using LabVIEW software and can be remotely operated via Internet. The database is available freely to all scientists and engineers in the SHM research area. This article introduces the deployment and functions of this system, and presents the measured responses of the bridge subjected to moving vehicle loads.     

Frontier of continuous structural health monitoring system for short & medium span bridges and condition assessment

It is becoming an important social problem to make maintenance and rehabilitation of existing short and medium span(10-20 m) bridges because there are a huge amount of short and medium span bridges in service in the world. The kernel of such bridge management is to develop a method of safety(condition) assessment on items which include remaining life and load carrying capacity. Bridge health monitoring using information technology and sensors is capable of providing more accurate knowledge of bridge performance than traditional strategies. The aim of this paper is to introduce a state-of-the-art on not only a rational bridge health monitoring system incorporating with the information and communication technologies for lifetime management of existing short and medium span bridges but also a continuous data collecting system designed for bridge health monitoring of mainly short and medium span bridges. In this paper, although there are some useful monitoring methods for short and medium span bridges based on the qualitative or quantitative information, mainly two advanced structural health monitoring systems are described to review and analyse the potential of utilizing the long term health monitoring in safety assessment and management issues for short and medium span bridge. The first is a special designed mobile in-situ loading device(vehicle) for short and medium span road bridges to assess the structural safety(performance) and derive optimal strategies for maintenance using reliability based method. The second is a long term health monitoring method by using the public buses as part of a public transit system (called bus monitoring system) to be applied mainly to short and medium span bridges, along with safety indices, namely, “characteristic deflection” which is relatively free from the influence of dynamic disturbances due to such factors as the roughness of the road surface, and a structural anomaly parameter.     

Improved visualization of infrastructure monitoring data using building information modeling

Abstract

With growing complex infrastructure, autonomous condition assessment of large-scale structures has garnered significant attention over the past few decades. Data-driven structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques offer valuable information of existing health of the structures, maintain the safety and their uninterrupted use under varied operational conditions by undertaking timely risk and hazard mitigation. Traditional approaches, however, are not enough to monitor a large amount of SHM data and conduct systematic decision making for future maintenance. In this article, building information modeling (BIM) is utilised as a promising computing environment and integrated digital representation platform of SHM that can organize and visualise a considerable amount of sensor data and subsequent structural health information over a prolonged period. A BIM-enabled platform is utilised to develop the proposed visualisation tool for a long-span bridge and enable automated sensor data inventory into the BIM environment. Such automated tool facilitates systematic maintenance and risk management, while avoiding manual errors resulting from visual inspection of the structures. The proposed method can be considered as a user-friendly and economic framework for condition assessment and disaster mitigation of structures from long-term monitored data.     

A stakeholder probability-based optimization approach for cost-effective bridge management under financial constraints

Management of bridges under uncertainty is an important issue for stakeholders. The use of probabilistic approaches enables one to consider uncertainties in the structural deterioration, assessment, and maintenance processes. Combined with optimization techniques, it is possible to determine management strategies that simultaneously minimize failure, assessment, maintenance, and rehabilitation costs. Nevertheless, there is a strong need in developing practical and efficient frameworks that enable stakeholders to optimize future allocation of budgets for facilities under uncertain structural parameters. In particular, providing an approach that is in agreement with stakeholders constraints still remains a challenge. Moreover, the use of structural health monitoring (SHM) in future management frameworks, to update structural performance, still needs further development. The objective of this paper is threefold: (a) provide management strategies in agreement with fixed budgets, (b) provide management strategies that consider the time delay between the assessment and the intervention schedule, and (c) include information provided by SHM in the decision process and analyze the impact of monitoring strategies on the structural analysis accuracy. An event tree based approach is proposed to consider various uncertainties in the decision process. Optimal solutions are associated with multiple criteria such as minimum expected failure cost, minimum expected inspection/SHM/maintenance costs, maximum agreement of expected inspection/SHM/maintenance costs to available budgets, and maximum accuracy of monitoring results. The approach is illustrated on an existing highway bridge.     

Curling of concrete slabs on grade: experimental versus theoretical analysis

Bridge structures are very critical elements within a complex transportation system, and movable bridges are especially important because they provide an effective way for traffic to cross an active waterway granting passage to ships that would otherwise be blocked by the infrastructure. As a consequence, reliability assessment as well as health monitoring of movable bridge structures are challenging issues that deserve significant attention because structural failures or temporary out-of-service may have a tremendous socio-economic impact. In this perspective, the structural monitoring of movable bridge structures can support more reliable numerical simulations, thus increasing the consistency of the whole assessment process. Moving from these considerations, the present paper addresses the optimal sensor placement (OSP) for monitoring a historic swing bridge in Taranto (Italy) by means of dynamic measurements. First, the bridge structure and the structural model are briefly illustrated. Subsequently, the considered strategies for sensor positioning are presented. Comparative analyses are finally performed to support the experimental design for this special infrastructure.     

江阴大桥原结构安全监测系统设计分析与反思

本文以江阴大桥结构健康监测系统升级改造工程为研究背景,在对江阴大桥结构受力特点进行简要分析的基础上,从大跨桥梁结构健康监测的监测思想、测点布置、测试技术的应用等方面,对江阴大桥原安全监测系统及存在的主要问题进行了分析研究。并从项目选择、传感器的布设、网络结构、数据采集、监测运行模式、数据存储、应用软件设计等方面对江阴大桥原结构安全监测系统进行了比较详细的设计分析与反思。为升级改造工程设计与实施提供了依据。     

SHM-based F-AHP bridge rating system with application to Tsing Ma Bridge

This paper aims at developing a structural health monitoring (SHM)-based bridge rating method for bridge inspection of long-span cable-supported bridges. The fuzzy based analytic hierarchy approach is employed, and the hierarchical structure for synthetic rating of each structural component of the bridge is proposed. The criticality and vulnerability analyses are performed largely based on the field measurement data from the SHM system installed in the bridge to offer relatively accurate condition evaluation of the bridge and to reduce uncertainties involved in the existing rating method. The procedures for determining relative weighs and fuzzy synthetic ratings for both criticality and vulnerability are then suggested. The fuzzy synthetic decisions for inspection are made in consideration of the synthetic ratings of all structural components. The SHM-based bridge rating method is finally applied to the Tsing Ma suspension bridge in Hong Kong as a case study. The results show that the proposed method is feasible and it can be used in practice for longspan cable-supported bridges with SHM system.     

土木工程结构健康监测的研究进展综述

对于大量进入老龄和维护期的土木工程结构,其安全性倍受重视,而具有多学科交叉特点的结构健康监测技术则是支撑土木工程基础设施安全运行和适时维护的一个有力工具。首先对各种结构损伤检测方法和无线智能传感技术的最新研究成果进行了回顾和评述;讨论了在线结构健康监测系统的关键问题;最后对结构健康监测和损伤检测领域今后的发展方向进行了展望。     

大跨斜拉桥索力监测研究——以乌江二桥为例

大跨斜拉桥拉索索力状态是衡量桥梁是否处于正常运营状态的一个重要标志。本文首先对斜拉桥拉索索力监测的方法和原理进行了阐述;然后,结合乌江二桥对监测系统、索力监测的设计做了介绍;最后对乌江二桥索力监测的结果进行了分析,从而对拉索索力的状态进行了评估,为斜拉桥桥梁状态的评估提供了依据。     

Major bridge development in Hong Kong,China—past,present and future

The first “modern” type of vehicular bridge was built in Hong Kong China in the 1920s. The need for an efficient transportation system to cope with population growth and enable economic development has demanded the construction of more and more bridges since the middle of the 20th century. By 2007, Hong Kong had a total of about 1300 vehicular bridges. Four of these bridges, including the Tsing Ma Bridge, Kap Shui Mun Bridge, Ting Kau Bridge, and the cable-stayed bridge on the Hong Kong- Shenzhen Western Corridor, are considered to be major bridges supported by cables. Currently, the Stonecutters Bridge on Route No. 8 is under construction and is expected to be completed in late 2009. At the same time, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge will be in its detailed design stage soon. While efforts have been made by bridge builders to construct these giant structures, the upkeeping of these valuable assets at a high standard and ensuring their continuous functioning and performance during their intended lifespans will be another important task for bridge engineers. Wind and structural health monitoring system (WASHMS) will play a key role in this respect.