Temperature effect on hybrid damage monitoring of PSC girder bridges by using acceleration and impedance signatures

Abstract

Acceleration and impedance signatures extracted from a structure are appealing features for a prompt diagnosis on structural condition since those are relatively simple to measure and utilize. However, the feasibility of using them for damage monitoring is limited when their changes go undisclosed due to uncertain temperature conditions, particularly for large structures. In this study, temperature effect on hybrid damage monitoring of prestress concrete (PSC) girder bridges is presented. In order to achieve the objective, the following approaches are implemented. Firstly, a hybrid monitoring algorithm using acceleration and impedance signatures is proposed. The hybrid monitoring algorithm mainly consists of three sequential phases: 1) the global occurrence of damage is alarmed by monitoring changes in acceleration features, 2) the type of damage is identified as either prestress-loss or flexural stiffness-loss by identifying patterns of impedance features, 3) the location and the extent of damage are estimated from damage index method using natural frequency and mode shape changes. Secondly, changes in acceleration and impedance signatures were investigated under various temperature conditions on a laboratory-scaled PSC girder model. Then the relationship between temperatures and those signatures is analyzed to estimate and a set of empirical correlations that will be utilized for the damage alarming and classification of PSC girder bridges. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed algorithm is evaluated by using a lab-scaled PSC girder bridge for which acceleration and impedance signatures were measured for several damage scenarios under uncertain temperature conditions.