Abstract
The recent developments in measurement technology have led to the installation of efficient monitoring systems on many bridges and other structures all over the world. Nowadays, more and more structures have been built and instrumented with sensors. However, calibration and installation of sensors remain challenging tasks. In this paper, we use a case study, Adige Bridge, in order to present a low-cost method for the calibration and installation of elasto-magnetic sensors on cable-stayed bridges. Elasto-magnetic sensors enable monitoring of cable stress. The sensor installation took place two years after the bridge construction. The calibration was conducted in two phases: one in the laboratory and the other one on site. In the laboratory, a sensor was built around a segment of cable that was identical to those of the cable-stayed bridge. Then, the sample was subjected to a defined tension force. The sensor response was compared with the applied load. Experimental results showed that the relationship between load and magnetic permeability does not depend on the sensor fabrication process except for an offset. The determination of this offset required in situ calibration after installation. In order to perform the in situ calibration without removing the cables from the bridge, vibration tests were carried out for the estimation of the cables’ tensions. At the end of the paper, we show and discuss one year of data from the elasto-magnetic sensors. Calibration results demonstrate the simplicity of the installation of these sensors on existing bridges and new structures.
Highlights
Structural health monitoring (SHM) systems have gained rapid progress with the aid of advanced technologies in sensing, data communication and data analysis
Unnecessary periodical inspections can be avoided leading to a reduction of maintenance costs by using permanent monitoring systems
We present how we can instrument in-service cable-stayed bridges with an EM
Summary
Structural health monitoring (SHM) systems have gained rapid progress with the aid of advanced technologies in sensing, data communication and data analysis. Elasto-magnetic (EM) sensors use a new low-cost technology for measuring the actual stress in ferromagnetic materials such as that of steel wires, strands and steel bars. We present how we can instrument in-service cable-stayed bridges with an EM sensor network, in order to continuously monitor the actual stress of its cables and guarantee the structural reliability. In our case, the sensors had to be installed two years after the bridge construction, and the owner could not allow the cables to be unloaded in order to perform calibration tests. In this contribution, we demonstrate a low-cost calibration and installation procedure for monitoring the tension of stay cables using EM sensors.
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