scholarly journals A Feasibility Study of the Drive-By Method for Damage Detection in Railway Bridges

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Carnevale ◽  
Andrea Collina ◽  
Tim Peirlinck

Damage identification and localization in railway bridges is a widely studied topic. Strain, displacement, or acceleration sensors installed on the bridge structure are normally used to detect changes in the global behavior of the structure, whereas approaches like ultra-sonic testing, acoustic emission, and magnetic inspection are used to check a small portion of structure near localized damage. The aim of this paper is to explore another perspective for monitoring the structural status of railway bridges, i.e., to detect structural damage from the dynamic response of the train transiting the bridge. This approach can successfully be implemented in the case of resonant bridges, thanks to the high level of acceleration generated, but its application becomes more challenging when the excitation frequencies due to train passage do not excite the first mode of vibration of the bridge. The paper investigates the feasibility of the method in the latter case, through numerical simulations of the complete train-track-bridge system. Accelerations on axleboxes and bogies are processed through suitable algorithms to detect differences arising when the train crosses a defective bridge or a healthy one. The results outline the main operational parameters affecting the method, the best placement for sensors, and the best frequency range to be considered in the signal processing, also addressing the issues that are related to track irregularity. Good performance can be achieved in the case of short bridges, but a few practical issues must be tackled before the method could be tested in practice.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (03) ◽  
pp. 1850035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhihui Zhu ◽  
Lidong Wang ◽  
Zhiwu Yu ◽  
Wei Gong ◽  
Yu Bai

This paper presents a non-stationary random vibration analysis of railway bridges under moving heavy-haul trains by the pseudo-excitation method (PEM) considering the train-track-bridge coupling dynamics. The train and the ballasted track-bridge are modeled by the multibody dynamics and finite element (FE) method, respectively. Based on the linearized wheel-rail interaction model, the equations of motion of the train-ballasted track-bridge coupling system are then derived. Meanwhile, the excitations between the rails and wheels caused by the random track irregularity are transformed into a series of deterministic pseudo-harmonic excitation vectors by the PEM. Then, the random vibration responses of the coupling system are obtained using a step-by-step integration method and the maximum responses are estimated using the 3[Formula: see text] rule for the Gaussian stochastic process. The proposed method is validated by the field measurement data collected from a simply-supported girder bridge (SSB) for heavy-haul trains in China. Finally, the effects of train speed, grade of track irregularity, and train type on the random dynamic behavior of six girder bridges for heavy-haul railways are investigated. The results show that the vertical acceleration and dynamic amplification factor (DAF) of the midspan of the SSB girders are influenced significantly by the train speed and track irregularity. With the increase in the vehicle axle-load, the vertical deflection-to-span ratio ([Formula: see text]) of the girders increases approximately linearly, but the DAF and vertical acceleration fail to show clear trend.



2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Lizhong Jiang ◽  
Xiang Liu ◽  
Tuo Zhou ◽  
Ping Xiang ◽  
Yuanjun Chen ◽  
...  

A nonlinear train-track-bridge system (TTBS) considering the random track irregularity and mass of train is discussed. Based on the Karhunen–Loéve theory, the track irregularity is expressed and input into the TTBS, and the result of random response is calculated using the point estimation method. Two cases are used to compare and validate the applicability of the proposed method, which show that the proposed method has a high precision and efficiency. Then, taking a 7-span bridge and a high-speed train as an example, the calculation results of random response of the nonlinear and linear wheel-rail model are compared, and the results show that for the bridge and rail response, the nonlinear and linear models are almost the same. Finally, comparing the calculated probability distribution results with the test results, it shows that the method can be applied to the prediction of actual response range.



Author(s):  
Penghao Li ◽  
Zhonglong Li ◽  
Zhaoling Han ◽  
Shengyang Zhu ◽  
Wanming Zhai ◽  
...  

In Northeast China and the areas along Sichuan-Tibet railway, collision between floating ice and piers of railway bridges seriously threatens the train operation safety. The safety of high-speed train running on the bridge subject to the impact of floating ice collision is rarely assessed considering the spatial interaction of the train-track-bridge-ice system. To evaluate the running safety and ride comfort of trains and the structural stability of railway bridges under the collision between floating ices and piers, a train-track-bridge (TTB) dynamic interaction model considering the impact of floating ice is established. Using the refined finite element model, the collision process of floating ice on bridge pier is simulated, and the impact loads are employed as the excitation input of the TTB dynamics model. Taking a 5 × 32 m simply-supported bridges as a case study, the influence of bridge structural parameters on the floating ice collision system is investigated, and then the dynamic responses of the TTB system induced by the floating ice impact loads are analyzed in detail. Finally, the effect of the ice impact loads on the running safety of the high-speed train is revealed. Results show that under the floating ice impact loads, the angle of the pier sharp-nose (APSN) and lateral stiffness of foundations are the key parameters that influence the dynamic responses of the bridge, and an improperly small lateral stiffness of foundation would lead to an instability of bridge structure. The influence of ice impact loads on the dynamic responses of the train is remarkable. The lateral vibration acceleration, derailment factor and lateral wheel rail force caused by the ice impact loads are all greater than those caused by the track irregularity, while the wheel unloading rate is slightly smaller. In addition, the running speed of train is also closely related to the running safety and ride comfort when the collision occurs. When the train speed exceeds 400 km/h, the train passing through the bridge would have the possibility of derailment.



2014 ◽  
Vol 556-562 ◽  
pp. 655-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Ping Wang

When long-span pre-stressed concrete bridges are subjected to concrete creep and temperature load , bridge deck deformation will be aroused. Then the additional track irregularity will be generated. It brings about the result that the dynamic response of train-track-bridge system will be influenced. In this paper, with the train-track-bridge coupling vibration theory, a (90+180+90) m continuous beam-arch combination bridge located on a certain passenger line is analysised comparatively, by considering the effect of concrete creep and temperature deformation. The results show that, the track irregularity caused by the concrete creep and temperature deformation influence the wheel unloading rate and the vertical accelararion of the train so obviously with the speed increasing. It can be concluded that the track irregularity need to be considered, especially for high-speed trains.



2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Lei ◽  
Ying Su ◽  
Wenai Shen

Recently, an innovative algorithm has been proposed by the authors for the identification of structural damage under unknown external excitations. However, identification accuracy of this proposed deterministic algorithm decreases under high level of measurement noise. A probabilistic approach is therefore proposed in this paper for damage identification considering measurement noise uncertainties. Based on the former deterministic algorithm, the statistical values of the identified structural parameters are estimated using the statistical theory and a damage index is defined. The probability of identified structural damage is further derived based on the reliability theory. The unknown external excitations to the structure are also identified by statistical evaluation. A numerical example of the identification of structural damage of a multistory shear-type building and its unknown excitation shows that the proposed probabilistic approach can accurately identify structural damage and the unknown excitations using only partial measurements of structural acceleration responses contaminated by intensive measurement noises.





2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-81
Author(s):  
C.H. Li ◽  
Q.W. Yang

Background: Structural damage identification is a very important subject in the field of civil, mechanical and aerospace engineering according to recent patents. Optimal sensor placement is one of the key problems to be solved in structural damage identification. Methods: This paper presents a simple and convenient algorithm for optimizing sensor locations for structural damage identification. Unlike other algorithms found in the published papers, the optimization procedure of sensor placement is divided into two stages. The first stage is to determine the key parts in the whole structure by their contribution to the global flexibility perturbation. The second stage is to place sensors on the nodes associated with those key parts for monitoring possible damage more efficiently. With the sensor locations determined by the proposed optimization process, structural damage can be readily identified by using the incomplete modes yielded from these optimized sensor measurements. In addition, an Improved Ridge Estimate (IRE) technique is proposed in this study to effectively resist the data errors due to modal truncation and measurement noise. Two truss structures and a frame structure are used as examples to demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of the presented algorithm. Results: From the numerical results, structural damages can be successfully detected by the proposed method using the partial modes yielded by the optimal measurement with 5% noise level. Conclusion: It has been shown that the proposed method is simple to implement and effective for structural damage identification.



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