Monitoring of a Norwegian steel-concrete bridge strengthening for composite action

<p>Traffic density and vehicle weight have been increasing over time, which implies that many existing road bridges were not designed for the high service loads and the increased number of load cycles that they are exposed to today. One way to increase the traffic load capacity of non-composite steel- concrete bridges is to use post-install shear connectors and one type of shear connector is the coiled spring pin. This type of connector has advantages for strengthening of existing bridges, since it enables an installation from below while the bridge is still in service and does not bring along removal of concrete and pavement, nor welding to the top flange.</p><p>This paper describes one ~50 years old Norwegian single span steel-concrete bridge that was strengthened with post-installed coiled spring pins. The strengthening method and the design procedure are presented, along with the results from a field monitoring on Sagstu bridge, performed to evaluate the behaviour of the strengthened structure. The results show that the coiled spring pins counteract the slip and bring along a very good degree of composite action.</p>

Testing of composite girders with coiled spring pin shear connectors

<p>Today, steel girder bridges with concrete deck slabs are generally constructed as steel-concrete composite structures, to utilize the material and the structural parts in an efficient way. However, many existing bridges constructed before the early 1980´s were designed without shear connectors at the steel-concrete interface. With increasing traffics loads and higher amount of load cycles, there is sometimes a need to strengthen these bridges. One way to increase the bending moment capacity is to create composite action by post-installation of shear connectors. The authors have studied the concept of strengthening by post-installed shear connectors, with a focus on a connector called coiled spring pin. This paper presents the results from the first beam tests performed with this kind of shear connector. In line with the previous push-out tests, the test results indicate a very ductile shear connection, with a potential to be a material- and cost-efficient strengthening alternative.</p>

3D Printable Dry EEG Electrodes with Coiled-Spring Prongs

Various dry electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes have been developed. Dry EEG electrodes need to be pressed onto the scalp; therefore, there is a tradeoff between keeping the contact impedance low and maintaining comfort. We propose an approach to solve this tradeoff through the printing of complex-shaped electrodes by using a stereolithography 3D printer. To show the feasibility of our approach, we fabricated electrodes that have flexible fingers (prongs) with springs. Although dry electrodes with flexible prongs have been proposed, a suitable spring constant has not been obtained. In this study, the spring constant of our electrodes was determined from a contact model between the electrodes and the scalp. The mechanical properties and reproductivity of the electrodes were found to be sufficient. Finally, we measured the alpha waves when a participant opened/closed his eyes by using our electrodes.

Synthesis of Flexure Based Translational Springs

Translational springs are employed to generate desired force-displacement relationships. Conventional translational springs utilize elastic deformations of coiled spring strips to fulfill their functions. The one-dimensional motion of a conventional translational spring is produced by the three-dimensional deformation of its coiled spring strip, which is bending plus twisting of the coiled spring strip. Different from conventional translational springs, flexure based translational springs usually have simple planar monolithic structures, and are convenient to manufacture and maintain. The translation of a flexure based translational spring is from the two-dimensional elastic or recoverable deformations of its planar flexible members. The flexure based translational springs synthesized in this research are required to endure large input translations. Because of large deformation and geometric nonlinearity, flexure based translational springs face difficulties that include parasitic drift, spring stiffness deviation, and high stress in the deformed springs. The research of this paper is motivated by surmounting these difficulties. Flexure based translational springs with different arrangements are synthesized to eliminate parasitic drifts and have desired spring rates and reasonable maximum stress.