A web‐based and design‐oriented structural health evaluation system for long‐span bridges with structural health monitoring system

Abstract

This paper presents a web-based and design-oriented structural health evaluation system (SHES) for long-span bridges equipped with long-term structural health monitoring system (SHMS). The key parameters of a long-span bridge, used in its limit state design, are recollected. The key design parameters cover not only bridge acceleration, displacement, internal force and stress but also wind loading, temperature loading, traffic loading, earthquake excitation, and corrosion. Data analysis methods are applied to the measurement data recorded by SHMS installed in the bridge to obtain its measured/predicted key parameters. Because most design parameters are reliability-based, data analysis methods therefore include not only statistical analysis, fatigue analysis, corrosion analysis but also extreme value analysis. The design key parameters and the measured/predicted key parameters are then used to evaluate the health status of the bridge in terms of loading, serviceability, safety, and durability. The three statuses of structural health monitoring, that is, normal monitoring, critical monitoring, and inspection initialization, are correspondingly defined as a reference for maintenance and management decision. All of the above are implemented with a series of web-based software. The feasibility and advantage of the proposed SHES are finally demonstrated through a case study using a real long-span butterfly arch bridge.