ABSTRACT
Structural analyses of old and often already damaged bridges are expensive and time-consuming. Hence, there is a huge demand for structural health monitoring systems that can be retrofitted on existing bridges to achieve information if damages jeopardize a future use. The authors present a data-driven analyzing method for detecting and assessing structural damages in a two-span concrete beam bridge that is equipped with distributed strain sensors below the decks of the bridge segments. The method makes use of bridge excitations caused by single vehicles (with unknown load and velocity) along both spans and their induced strains at various sensor locations.
Computer simulations of vehicle crossings over a bridge model with varying damage scenarios are used to validate the method. Supporting validations are conducted based on data of a real national highway bridge, which has been approved for scientific experiments including the infliction of damages. Results are promising in effectively detecting and assessing different damages using the proposed method.
