Structural Model Calibration of Vierendeel Bridge Based on the Vibration Properties

Abstract

In this study the Vierendeel bridge structural model is adopted as a complex structure case study scaled from a real structure located near Čačak city in Serbia. Experimental analysis is conducted under simulation of ambient vibration using shaker device for exciting the model. Frequency Domain Decomposition (FDD) technique is applied using ARTeMIS software extractor to extract the modal properties, natural frequencies and mode shapes. As a comparative study, Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition (EFDD) is used to verify the extracted results from FDD. A finite element model is created in ANSYS software to simulate the adopted model to estimate modal properties numerically. Calibration process is implemented to converge the numerically estimated with the experimentally extracted modal properties. Two procedures written in MATLAB environment, for calibration and damage identification, are proposed using heuristics optimization, Simulated Annealing (SA) and Tabu Search (TS). Both of proposed calibration procedures exhibit high accuracy and efficiency due to good convergence between experimentally extracted and numerically updated values of natural frequencies extracted based on ambient vibration measurements.