The Sonreb and Core (SRC) combined method is proposed to assess the concrete compression strength of mass concrete structures.Artificial neural network is employed together with the SRC combined method to obtain the optimal core number.The artificial neural network is trained based on data from different testing methods.The procedure of using artificial neural network to assess the concrete strength is described.It proves that the SRC combined method is superior in many aspects and artificial the presented neural network has a high efficiency and reliability.The combined method using artificial intelligence is promising in the strength assessment of mass concrete structures such as the dam,the anchor of the suspension bridge,etc.
Pulse-prepump Brillouin optical time domain analysis (PPP-BOTDA) is a novel technique for distributed strain measurements, in which a pre-pump pulse is inputted in front of the measuring pump pulse to stimulate the phonon, so that higher spatial resolution and measurement precision can be obtained. Principle, methodologies and technical parameters of the PPP-BOTDA are presented and the influence of temperature on measurements is discussed. Applications are made in the bond test of steel rebars and the bending test of concrete girders. Test results show that the PPP-BOTDA can provide a precise description on the strain distribution of steel rebar and concrete, exhibiting the ability for crack detection. Moreover, structural deformation can be obtained indirectly by accumulating the distributed strains along the optical fiber, thus the deflection curves of the concrete girder during the loading process are obtained. Suggestions with regards to the application of the PPP-BOTDA in strain measurements and crack monitoring for civil infrastructures are given.
To ensure the anti-earthquake performances of super-long-span suspension bridges, effective devices should be employed to control the seismic response of key sections. In this paper, four kinds of assessment functions for seismic response control effect are formulated based on the mechanism of seismic response control with dampers and the seismic response characteristics of long-span suspension bridges. A new optimal placement method of dampers using penalty function and first-order optimization theory is then proposed. Runyang suspension bridge (RSB) with a main span of 1490 m is then taken as an example. After seismic response time-history analyses on RSB using different placements of dampers, the analysis results are optimized by employing the optimal placement method and the optimal placements of dampers with the four assessment functions are then achieved respectively. Comparison of the four optimal control effects show that different assessment functions can lead to different optimal placements when the number of dampers is certain, but all placements of dampers can reduce the seismic response of RSB significantly. The selection of assessment functions and damper optimal placement should be determined by the structural characteristics and by what is considered in the structures. Results also show that the first-order optimization is an effective method on determining the optimal placement of dampers.
Earthquake may cause severe damage to all kinds of bridge such as the falling down of the girder; therefore,effective measures should be employed to control the seismic displacement. In this paper,the method of comprehensive optimal control,com-bined with analytic hierarchy process,is employed to investigate the seismic response control of the Nanjing Jiangxinzhou Bridge,which is a single-tower self-anchored suspension bridge (SSSB). Also,3-dimensional nonlinear seismic response analyses are con-ducted. Three types of practical connection measures for seismic response control of SSSB are investigated,and the optimal pa-rameters of the connection devices are achieved by this method. Results show that both the elastic connection devices and the damp-ers with rational parameters can reduce the seismic displacement of the bridge effectively,but the elastic connection devices will in-crease the seismic force of the tower. When all factors are consid-ered,the optimal measure is by using the elastic connection devices and the dampers together. These results can provide references for seismic response control of SSSBs.
The "Structural Health Monitoring" is a project supported by National Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of China(Grant No.50725828).To meet the urgent requirements of analysis and assessment of mass monitoring data of bridge environmental actions and structural responses,the monitoring of environmental actions and action effect modeling methods,dynamic performance monitoring and early warning methods,condition assessment and operation maintenance methods of key members are systematically studied in close combination with structural characteristics of long-span cable-stayed bridges and suspension bridges.The paper reports the progress of the project as follows.(1) The environmental action modeling methods of long-span bridges are established based on monitoring data of temperature,sustained wind and typhoon.The action effect modeling methods are further developed in combination with the multi-scale baseline finite element modeling method for long-span bridges.(2) The identification methods of global dynamic characteristics and internal forces of cables and hangers for long-span cable-stayed bridges and suspension bridges are proposed using the vibration monitoring data,on the basis of which the condition monitoring and early warning methods of bridges are developed using the environmental-condition-normalization technique.(3) The analysis methods for fatigue loading effect of welded details of steel box girder,temperature and traffic loading effect of expansion joint are presented based on long-term monitoring data of strain and beam-end displacement,on the basis of which the service performance assessment and remaining life prediction methods are developed.
The Sutong Bridge, a cable-stayed located in the southeast coastal area of China, is vulnerable to the Pacific typhoons. From the data measured by two 3D ultrasonic anemometers at the height of 76 m and 306 m, the wind characteristics (including 10-minute mean wind speed and direction, turbulence intensity and gust factor, power spectral density and integral scale of turbulence) of Typhoon Kalmaegi are analyzed The comparison of 10-minute mean wind velocity from the two anemometers validates the reliability of wind data. The turbulence intensities (Iu, Iv, and Iw) show the decreasing trend as the mean wind speed in-creases. The mean value of Iv/Iu is 0.94, while that of Iw/Iu is 0.90. Discrepancy exists between field-measured power spectra and code-suggested spectra. Those results can enlarge the wind database of the southeast coastal area of China, and provide references for wind resistance evaluation of the bridge.
HU Ruomei, WANG Hao, LI Aiqun School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, Jiangsu, China
Field measurement on wind characteristic and buffeting response of existing bridge is of great value to the development of bridge wind engineering,and the structural health monitoring system(SHMS) em-ployed in many long-span bridges provide a research basis for the field measurement.In order to pro-vide reliable basis for wind resistant evaluation of Runyang Suspension Bridge(RSB),two anemome-ters and 85 accelerometers were installed in the SHMS of RSB.In August 2005,Typhoon Matsa crossed over Jiangsu,the SHMS timely recorded the typhoon and structural vibration responses.In this paper by using the time-frequency technique and statistical theory,the recorded data were analyzed to obtain the strong wind characteristics,the buffeting response characteristics of the cable and deck,and the variation of buffeting response RMS versus wind speed.Results obtained in this study can be em-ployed to validate the credibility of current buffeting response analysis theory techniques,and provide reference values for wind resistant evaluation of other long-span bridges.
