Abstract

This paper outlines a new method for performing base line corrections on accelerograms generated by the quick-release dynamic testing method. These accelerograms are produced when highway bridges are subjected to dynamic excitations by initially deforming the bridge structure and subsequently quick-releasing the loads causing the deformation. This base line correction method is developed in such a way that the step function character of the quick-release base line is preserved. It is this feature which allows the static deformations of the structure to be recovered by integrating the accelerograms. The reliability of the method is demonstrated by a series of laboratory measurements comparing the displacement time series obtained by double integration to independently measured displacement responses. These laboratory comparisons indicate that the offset displacements are accurate to within about 5% on the average. The method was applied on accelerograms obtained during a quick-release full-scale test of the Meloland Road Overcrossing, and some examples of this application are presented.

Highlights

  • For the past 12 years or so, the University of Nevada has been conducting quick-release dynamic tests on highway bridges in order to determine the dynamic properties of the structures [Refs. 6, 7, 8)

  • The bridge structure is first deformed by hydraulic rams; high amplitude dynamic motions are created by simultaneously quick-releasing the hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic jacks

  • The detailed acceleration response of the structure is obtained as a direct consequence of the quick-release tests

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Summary

Introduction

For the past 12 years or so, the University of Nevada has been conducting quick-release dynamic tests on highway bridges in order to determine the dynamic properties of the structures [Refs. 6, 7, 8). For the past 12 years or so, the University of Nevada has been conducting quick-release dynamic tests on highway bridges in order to determine the dynamic properties of the structures [Refs. In these tests, the bridge structure is first deformed by hydraulic rams; high amplitude dynamic motions are created by simultaneously quick-releasing the hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic jacks. The detailed acceleration response of the structure is obtained as a direct consequence of the quick-release tests. The direct measurement of the static deformation of the structure under the initially applied hydraulic ram loads ordinarily requires the use of fixed reference frames. Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557

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