ABSTRACT
In this paper, a drive-by damage detection methodology for high-speed railway (HSR) bridges is addressed to appraise the application of Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) to extract the Damage Index (DI). A finite element 2D vehicle-track-bridge (VTBI) model that incorporates the train, ballasted track and bridge is presented. The formulation includes track irregularities and a damaged condition induced in a structure region. The feasibility of applying cepstrum analysis components to the indirect damage detection in HSR by on-board sensors is evaluated by numerical simulations. Different damage scenarios were simulated, as well as external excitations such as measurement noises and different levels of track irregularities. The results show that MFCC-based DI are highly sensitive regarding damage detection and robust to the noise. Bridge’s stiffness can be recognized satisfactorily at high speeds and under different levels of track irregularities. Moreover, the magnitude of DI extract-ed from MFCC is related to the relative severity of the damage.
