Maintenance Management Research of a Large-span Continuous Rigid Frame Bridge Based on Reliability Assessment by Using Strain Monitored Data

Abstract

When the bridge components needing maintenance are the world problem at present, and the health monitoring system is considered to be a very helpful tool for solving this problem. In this paper, a large number of strain data acquired from the structural health monitoring system (SHMS) installed on a continuous rigid frame bridge are adopted to do reliability assessment. Firstly, a calculation method of punctiform time-dependent reliability is proposed based on the basic reliability theory, and introduced how to calculate reliability of the bridge by using the stress data transformed from the strain data. Secondly, combined with “Three Sigma” principle and the basic pressure safety reserve requirement, the critical load effects distribution function of the bridge is defined, and then the maintenance reliability threshold for controlling the unfavorable load state which appears in the early operation stage of this type bridge is suggested, and then the combination of bridge maintenance management and health monitoring system is realized. Finally, the transformed stress distribution certifies that the load effects of concrete bridges practically have a normal distribution; as for the concrete continuous rigid frame bridge with C50 strength grade concrete, the retrofit reliability threshold should be valued at 6.13. The methodology suggested in this article can help bridge engineers do effective maintenance of bridges, which can effectively extend the service life of the bridge and bring better economic and social benefits.