Fatigue Assessment of a Slender Footbridge Based on an Updated Finite Element Model

2018 ◽  
Vol 774 ◽  
pp. 589-594
Author(s):  
J. Pérez-Aracil ◽  
A.M. Hernandez-Díaz ◽  
J.F. Jiménez-Alonso ◽  
F.J. Puerta-Lopez

Finite element model updating is a well-known technique to better characterize the real behaviour of civil engineering structures. The updated numerical model can be used to perform a more accurate structural assessment. Herein, its effectiveness is validated through the fatigue assessment of a lively footbridge considering two different numerical models: (i) a preliminary finite element (FE) model and (ii) an updated version of the preliminary model based on the modal parameters of the footbridge identified experimentally. For this purpose, the Malecon footbridge (Murcia, Spain) has been considered. This footbridge, a cable-stayed structure, is prone to vibrate in vertical direction under continuous walking pedestrian flows so fatigue damage might be expected on its supporting cables. A detailed FE model of the footbridge has been performed and subsequently updated based on the experimental modal parameters of the structure. The behaviour of the pedestrian flows was characterized by field observations. Finally, a comparison is performed between the fatigue damage of some cables of the footbridge considering the two mentioned FE models. The safe life method was used to assess such damage. As result, a maximum relative difference around 52 % was obtained between the two numerical models.

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1189-1206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Giagopoulos ◽  
Alexandros Arailopoulos ◽  
Vasilis Dertimanis ◽  
Costas Papadimitriou ◽  
Eleni Chatzi ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (16) ◽  
pp. 3487-3502
Author(s):  
Hossein Moravej ◽  
Tommy HT Chan ◽  
Khac-Duy Nguyen ◽  
Andre Jesus

Structural health monitoring plays a significant role in providing information regarding the performance of structures throughout their life spans. However, information that is directly extracted from monitored data is usually susceptible to uncertainties and not reliable enough to be used for structural investigations. Finite element model updating is an accredited framework that reliably identifies structural behavior. Recently, the modular Bayesian approach has emerged as a probabilistic technique in calibrating the finite element model of structures and comprehensively addressing uncertainties. However, few studies have investigated its performance on real structures. In this article, modular Bayesian approach is applied to calibrate the finite element model of a lab-scaled concrete box girder bridge. This study is the first to use the modular Bayesian approach to update the initial finite element model of a real structure for two states—undamaged and damaged conditions—in which the damaged state represents changes in structural parameters as a result of aging or overloading. The application of the modular Bayesian approach in the two states provides an opportunity to examine the performance of the approach with observed evidence. A discrepancy function is used to identify the deviation between the outputs of the experimental and numerical models. To alleviate computational burden, the numerical model and the model discrepancy function are replaced by Gaussian processes. Results indicate a significant reduction in the stiffness of concrete in the damaged state, which is identical to cracks observed on the body of the structure. The discrepancy function reaches satisfying ranges in both states, which implies that the properties of the structure are predicted accurately. Consequently, the proposed methodology contributes to a more reliable judgment about structural safety.


Author(s):  
M. Richmond ◽  
S. Siedler ◽  
M. Häckell ◽  
U. Smolka ◽  
A. Kolios

Abstract The modal parameters extracted from a structure by accelerometers can be used for damage assessment as well as model updating. To extract modal parameters from a structure, it is important to place accelerometers at locations with high modal displacements. Sensor placement can be restricted by practical considerations, and installation might be conducted more based on engineering judgement rather than analysis. This leads to the question of how important the optimal sensor placement is, and if fewer sensors suffice to extract the modal parameters. In this work, an offshore wind substation (OSS) from the Wikinger offshore wind farm (owned by Iberdrola) is instrumented with 12, 3-axis accelerometers. This sensor setup consists of 6 sensors in a permanent campaign where sensors were placed based purely on engineering judgement, as well as 6 sensors in a temporary campaign, placed based on a placement analysis. An optimal sensor placement study was conducted using a finite element model of the structure in the software package FEMtools, resulting in optimal layouts. The temporary campaign sensors were placed such that they, in combination with the permanent campaign, can be used to complete the proposed layouts. Samples for each setup are processed using the software ARTeMIS modal to extract the mode shapes and natural frequencies through the Stochastic Subspace Identification (SSI) technique. The frequencies found by this approach are then clustered together using a k-means algorithm for a comparison within clusters. The modal assurance criterion (MAC) values are calculated for each result and compared to the finite element model from which the optimal sensor placement study was conducted. This is to match mode shapes between the two and thus determine the importance of off diagonal MAC elements in the sensor optimization process. MAC values are also calculated relative to a cluster-averaged set of eigenvectors to determine how they vary over the 1.5 months. The results show that for all sensor layouts, the three lower frequency modes are consistently identified. The most optimized sensor layout, consisting of only 3 sensors, was able to distinguish an additional, higher frequency mode which was never identified in the 6-sensor permanent layout. However, the reduced sensor layout shows slightly more scatter in the results than the 6-sensor layout. There is a higher signal to noise ratio in the temporary campaign which results in scatter. We conclude that with an optimized placement of accelerometers, more modes can be identified and distinguished. However, off diagonal elements in the original MAC matrix, as well as loss of sensor degrees of freedom, can result in additional scatter in the measurements. Some of these findings can be extended to other offshore jacket structures, such as those of wind turbines, in that it gives a better understanding of the consequence of an optimal sensor placement study.


2013 ◽  
Vol 540 ◽  
pp. 79-86
Author(s):  
De Jun Wang ◽  
Yang Liu

Finite element (FE) model updating of structures using vibration test data has received considerable attentions in recent years due to its crucial role in fields ranging from establishing a reality-consistent structural model for dynamic analysis and control, to providing baseline model for damage identification in structural health monitoring. Model updating is to correct the analytical finite element model using test data to produce a refined one that better predict the dynamic behavior of structure. However, for real complex structures, conventional updating methods is difficult to be utilized to update the FE model of structures due to the heavy computational burden for the dynamic analysis. Meta-model is an effective surrogate model for dynamic analysis of large-scale structures. An updating method based on the combination between meta-model and component mode synthesis (CMS) is proposed to improve the efficiency of model updating of large-scale structures. The effectiveness of the proposed method is then validated by updating a scaled suspender arch bridge model using the simulated data.


2013 ◽  
Vol 540 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yang Liu ◽  
Zhan Lv ◽  
Hong Zhang

To develop an effective software for finite element (FE) model updating of bridges, the interface technology between VC++ and MATLAB was investigated firstly, and then a software for updating FE model of bridges, named Doctor for Bridges (version 1.0) was developed. Finally, a model ofconcrete-filled steel tube arch bridge was applied to verify the performance and effectiveness of the proposed software.


2014 ◽  
Vol 102 (8) ◽  
pp. 2844-2851
Author(s):  
Khanh Nguyen ◽  
Olga Rio ◽  
Borja Frutos ◽  
Pedro Avellanosa ◽  
Alejandro Rodriguez

Volume 2 ◽  
2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun-Nan Chen ◽  
Cheng-Tien Chang

A finite element model of a structure can be updated as certain criteria based on experimental data are satisfied. The updated FE model is considered a better model for future studies in dynamic response prediction, structural modification, and damage identification. A finite element model updating technique incorporating the concept of response surface approximation (RSA) requires no sensitivity calculations and is much easier to implement with a general-purpose finite element code. The proposed updating method was incorporated with MSC. Nastran to solve the updating problem for an H-shaped frame structure. The updated results show that the predicted and experimental modes are correlated well with high MAC values and with a maximum frequency difference of 1.5%. Moreover, the updated parameters provide a physical insight to the modeling of bolted and welded joints of the H-frame structure.


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