Calibration Method for Dynamic Deflection Measurement of Bridges by Photogrammetry

Abstract

Heavy vehicular traffic and aggressive environmental conditions can cause unexpected bridge deterioration, thus, periodic inspections to identify and assess possible defects are required. One indicator is the amount of vertical deflection that occurs during loading. Some different types of transducers can be used to measure the deflection. One of them is the photogrammetry. It is a typical noncontact measurement method. Unfortunately, it is difficult to calibrate this type of instruments. The key point is the evaluation of the dynamic deflection measurement capability. A dynamic calibration system of bridge photogrammetric measurement system was composed of the motorized linear stage, LED target and computer. The Fréchet distance was used as a model to evaluate the dynamic deflection measurement capability of bridge deflection photogrammetry. The photogrammetric bridge deflection measuring instruments are products of BIOET, which are used to carry out the measurement experiment. The results show that this system can calibrate the dynamic deflection measurement error of photogrammetric bridge deflection measuring instruments. Fréchet distance can reflect the relationship between the curves. This evaluation method is more accurate than the current evaluation method based on the error of indication of maximum dynamic deflection.