Highway Bridge Structures Research Articles

Investigation of the Buckling Capacity of Concrete Encased Steel H-Piles on Highway Bridge Structures

Investigation of the Buckling Capacity of Concrete Encased Steel H-Piles on Highway Bridge Structures

System fragility evaluation of a curved highway bridge structure considering multi-direction seismic excitations

This paper presents the impact of varying the input seismic excitation directions on the system fragility of a geometrically complex highway bridge structure. The traditional approach of fragility derivation in the principal loading directions (longitudinal and transverse) results in an under/overestimation of the system fragility. To reduce such errors, the contribution of all major vulnerable components to the system fragility in the critical loading direction must be considered. For this purpose, a series of nonlinear time-history analyses were conducted for a testbed configured geometrically curved highway bridge structure in Japan. Shear strain, ductility, and distortion strain were considered as engineering demand parameters for bearings, concrete pier, and steel piers, respectively. The demand dependency among the components was considered using the correlation coefficient matrix for fragility estimation. Subsequently, fragility functions with respect to the input loading directions were generated for the bridge components and system to quantify their sensitivity to seismic input excitation directions. The results show that the component fragility is significantly influenced by the input excitation direction. A relative comparison of the system fragility for different loading directions indicated that a 150° loading direction yielded a higher fragility demand. The findings suggest that the critical fragility assessment should not always be decided only along the principal loading directions.

Multi-objective control optimization of isolated bridge using replicator controller and NSGA-II

Earthquakes can cause significant damage to constructed structures, leading engineers to design systems that effectively reduce damage and improve real-time vibration control. While base isolation is a commonly used passive method for seismic protection in highway structures, it has limitations such as a lack of immediate adaptation, constrained power dissipation capacity, and poor performance during earthquakes. To address the limitations of passive base isolation bearings, a hybrid control system that includes semi-active MR dampers is being introduced into isolated highway bridge structures. The aim is to enhance vibration reduction and improve overall performance. One of the major challenges in implementing this technology is developing appropriate control algorithms to handle the nonlinear behavior of semi-active devices. This paper proposes an adaptive data-driven control algorithm, informed by evolutionary game theory and a multi-objective optimization process, to optimize the distribution of voltage to semi-active MR dampers based on measurements of the damper's response to input signals. The algorithm is designed to provide optimal seismic protection. The performance of the replicator dynamics in the control system depends on three critical parameters: total population, which represents the total available resources or the sum of actuator forces; growth rate, which is the rate at which resources are distributed among control devices; and the fictitious fitness function, which regulates power consumption. Previous studies used sensitivity analysis to ascertain the best values for population size and growth rate, a time-consuming and unreliable process. This study aims to improve the performance of the system by solving a multi-objective problem. The proposed approach integrates a control algorithm with a multi-objective optimization algorithm, namely NSGA-II, to find Pareto optimal values for all parameters of the replicator dynamics. These parameters include total population, growth rate, and the fictitious function, with the aim of ensuring sustainability. By considering multiple objectives simultaneously, the proposed approach can provide a more comprehensive and effective solution for the bridge control problem. The effectiveness of this proposed approach is demonstrated through sample results Utilizing a case study centered around the Southern California Interstate 91/5 Overcrossing Highway Bridge, which is exposed to seismic activities.

STUDY ON EARTHQUAKE DESTRUCTION MODE OF THE LARGEST CANAL CROSSING HIGHWAY BRIDGE BASED ON IEM BOUNDARY IN SOUTH-TO-NORTH WATER DIVERSION

To study the dynamic failure mechanism and damage development law of highway bridge structure under the boundary effect in the process of seismic dynamic duration, the Wenchang Highway Bridge with the largest canal crossing in the South-to-North Water Diversion is taken as an example for seismic design analysis. Based on the finite element and infinite element coupling theory, the infinite element method boundary is introduced, the concrete damage plasticity is introduced, and the half-space free field model is established to study the energy dispersion phenomenon of waves in the boundary and the absorption effect of the infinite element method boundary on wave energy is verified. Under different peak acceleration intensities, the seismic response analysis of the bridge structure was carried out. The results show that: Under the action of selected artificial waves, the damage location of the bridge mainly concentrated in the junction of the box girder supported by the pier, the bottom of the pier and the junction of the pier and beam. The damage tends to develop downward near the bottom of the box girder. The damage at both ends of the beam extends from both ends to the middle. And the bottom and top of the pier have penetrating damage. These are weak points in seismic design. At a horizontal peak acceleration of 0.6g, in addition to damage to the pier column, damage also occurred to the bottom of the box girder. Therefore, when the horizontal peak acceleration of the seismic wave is greater than 0.6g, the failure of the bottom of the box girder is paid attention to. Moreover, the IEM boundary has a good control effect on the far-field energy dissipation of the wave, which is simpler and more efficient than the viscous–spring boundary.

Challenges in applying vibration-based damage detection to highway bridge structures

Challenges in applying vibration-based damage detection to highway bridge structures

Influence of vehicular movement on the seismic response and fragility of highway bridge structures

Recognising the criticality of highway bridges for the socio-economic development of a nation, multiple researchers have endeavoured towards quantifying the seismic fragility of these key infrastructure elements. Given the present boom in urbanisation, however, there may also be an appreciable likelihood of vehicle presence on the highway bridge deck during an earthquake event. This study focuses on the impact assessment of vehicle-bridge-interaction (VBI) on the seismic fragility of highway bridges by explicitly accounting for vehicular movement atop the bridge deck during seismic shaking. Addressing existing drawbacks in literature that typically adopts a simplified modelling strategy and static vehicle placement, this paper considers different types of moving vehicles (modelled as mass-spring-dashpot system analogies) for VBI assessment through a novel algorithm. The proposed framework also accounts for uncertainties involved in the moving vehicle analysis, pertaining to vehicle characteristics and driver’s perception of the earthquake. The framework is demonstrated on representative multi-span continuous steel girder bridges located in Central and Southeastern United States. A comparative assessment of hysteretic response of bridge components and seismic fragility curves indicate a considerable influence of vehicular movement on bridge damage, signifying the importance of considering moving VBI effects for thorough seismic assessment of highway bridge structures.

P3P: a software suite for autonomous SHM of bridge networks

This paper presents the development of a new software code for the fully autonomous management of permanent integrated Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems installed in highway bridge structures. The code was developed within the framework of a research project funded by Anas S.p.A., the largest public infrastructure manager in Italy. The software program includes all the necessary steps to conduct SHM within the statistical pattern recognition paradigm, including automated dynamic identification, modal tracking, filtering of environmental effects, and damage detection through novelty analysis. Additionally, the software suite includes specific modules for processing and analysis of seismic events and structural reliability analysis of bridges, as well as specific functionalities for span-wise identification of long multi-span bridges. Moreover, a novel automated density-based tracking algorithm is developed. The potential of P3P is illustrated through two real application case studies: (i) a long multi-span bridge, the Trigno V Bridge in Italy; and (ii) the Z-24 Bridge benchmark. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of the developed code for handling large monitoring databases within the framework of SHM as a statistical pattern recognition, and currently P3P is in phase of being applied by Anas S.p.A for the management of a large number of bridges of the Italian roadway system.

Life Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Hybrid Highway Bridge Made of an Aluminum Deck and Glulam Timber Beams

Reinforced concrete and steel are the most commonly used materials in bridge applications in Quebec (Canada). The production of these materials has a significant environmental impact and contributes to the scarcity of non-renewable resources due to the numerous maintenance requirements during the life of the structure. Consequently, there are governmental initiatives and efforts in the province of Quebec to promote the use of aluminum and engineered wood in the construction and rehabilitation of roadway bridges. Those two materials are not widely used due to the short-term vision of decision makers and the lack of technical knowledge for structural uses in highway bridge structures. However, they can be competitive materials due to their local production, durability and recyclability. The life cycle assessment method allows for an analysis of the use of complementary materials, considering all the stages of the life cycle of a structure. The comparison of a roadway bridge made of an aluminum deck on glulam timber beams against a bridge made of an aluminum deck on steel girders shows that, due to the local production and low environmental impact of glulam timber, the aluminum-to-timber bridge is economically and environmentally more advantageous than the aluminum-to-steel bridge. Similarly, a comparison of this alternative aluminum/wood solution to the conventional concrete slab-on-steel girder bridge solution shows a decrease in overall cost by 86% and a decrease in environmental impacts by 88% due to the ease of prefabrication and the relatively low number of interventions over its lifetime.

Parameterized deep reinforcement learning-enabled maintenance decision-support and life-cycle risk assessment for highway bridge portfolios

Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) has emerged to be a promising alternative capable of providing intelligent and proactive sequential decision-support for bridge asset management. However, the state of research in this topic mainly focused on a fixed structural system, whereas the integration of DRL with varying training environments, which may more broadly accommodate the needs of different individual structures is yet to be explored. This study proposes a parameterized DRL framework to deliver a unified policy to meet the decision needs of different individual highway bridge structures within a bridge portfolio. Moreover, a time- and policy-dependent risk quantification approach is also proposed. A case-study highway bridge portfolio is considered to evaluate and demonstrate the merit of the proposed methodology. From the results, the parameterized DRL policy is found to offer superior sequential maintenance decisions that can better help the bridge structures adapt to long-term deterioration, while minimizing the cumulative socioeconomic costs.

Preliminary evaluation of Pier cap from an ASR affected bridge in Central Canada

The Bridge, a highway bridge structure, was built using a suspected alkali-silica reactive aggregate in the 1960’s in a city in central Canada. Its concrete elements experienced rapid deterioration resulting in the need for costly increased repairs and rehabilitations. Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is one of several damage mechanisms which might be contributing to damage of concrete elements. Infrastructure in central Canada experiences frequent freeze-thaw cycles, and heavy use of de-icing salts in winter as well as high heat and humidity in summer which might intensify distress. In recent years several concrete elements were selected for further assessment. Among them, five segments of a decommissioned Pier cap were selected for preliminary evaluation through visual inspection (conventional, semi-quantitative and quantitative using the cracking index) and non-destructive techniques (Schmidt hammer, ultrasonic pulse velocity and surface resistivity). Preliminary assessment results will be used to determine the appropriate locations (i.e., demonstrating the lowest/ highest deterioration) to extract cores for further assessment. Future work will be conducted on extracted cores using a multi-level assessment technique consisting of mechanical (compressive testing and stiffness-damage test) and microscopic procedures (the damage rating index and SEM) to assess the condition of the Pier cap.

Influence of ground motion duration on the seismic vulnerability of aging highway bridges

Despite the potential of long duration earthquakes in subduction zones, little attention has been paid on seismic vulnerability assessment of highway bridges that are simultaneously undergoing prolonged corrosion deterioration. Consequently, this study presents a framework for considering the joint impact of ground motion duration and chloride-induced corrosion deterioration on the lifetime seismic vulnerability of aging highway bridge structures. The proposed framework is then applied to a representative case-study multi-span simply supported highway bridge located in subduction earthquake zone within Seattle, U.S.A. A detailed three-dimensional analytical models are first developed that account for the nonlinear behaviour of different bridge components, including experimentally validated column model capable of capturing cyclic degradation of force–deformation response. Suites of spectrally equivalent short and long duration ground motions are adopted followed by an incremental dynamic analysis-based framework for seismic fragility assessment. Deterministic seismic response assessment reveals a higher seismic demand on multiple bridge components under long duration ground motion record as compared to spectrally equivalent short duration record. Lastly, the bridge components and system fragility curves are developed considering modelling and deterioration uncertainties. Results reveal the significant vulnerability of bridge components and system under the joint impact of long duration earthquake shock and corrosion deterioration.

Highway Bridge Test Detection Technology and Application Method Based on Big Data

With the rapid development of transportation, highway bridges as a transportation hub have played an important role and become the link of economic development in the region. In recent decades, my country has built many types of highway bridges. During the construction and operation of these bridges on highways, many inspection activities are required to ensure the quality of construction and operational safety. This article mainly introduces the highway bridge test detection technology and various application methods based on big data. This paper uses big data to detect the dynamics of the highway bridge structure and establish a load test model. The model is solved by the energy-releasing method to strengthen the rigid structure of the highway bridge, evaluate the road condition, and use historical data to revise the model to improve the accuracy of the highway bridge load. The experimental results in this paper show that the highway bridge detection technology based on big data reduces accidents by 23%, and the test and evaluation results under big data show that the performance of highway bridges is excellent and meets the design.

Load balancing and neural dynamic model to optimize replicator dynamics controllers for vibration reduction of highway bridge structures

Earthquakes cause irreparable damages to the built environment, which has led bridge engineers to develop structural control systems to mitigate damage and improve vibration reduction in real-time. Among control systems, base isolation is one of the most commonly used passive control strategies for seismic protection of civil structures. Yet, it lacks real-time adaptability, has lower energy dissipation, and poor performance during near-fault earthquakes. To overcome these limitations, a hybrid control system comprised of semi-active magneto-rheological (MR) dampers and passive base isolation bearings is installed at the deck and piers for vibration reduction of highway bridge structures. This paper, inspired by evolutionary game theory and artificial intelligence, proposes data-driven replicator dynamic control algorithms to distribute the command voltage to the current driver of the semi-active MR dampers. It incorporates a load balancing strategy to reallocate additional resources. To achieve a high-performance design of the game-theory-inspired controllers, a patented neural dynamic model is used to optimize the control parameters. The evaluation of the proposed methodology uses a benchmark control problem based on the 91/5 highway bridge in Southern California subjected to near-field earthquake accelerograms. The performance of five different proposed controllers is compared with conventional Lyapunov and fuzzy logic control algorithms using 21 performance criteria. Results show the load balancing capability of the proposed control algorithms to mitigate the vibrations experienced by the bridge structure and further increase the durability of semi-active devices. The novelty of the methodology impacts how game-theory controllers make control decisions among multiple devices in engineering problems.

Research on the Internal Thermal Boundary Conditions of Concrete Closed Girder Cross-Sections under Historically Extreme Temperature Conditions

The accuracy of the finite element model (FEM) for concrete closed girder cross-sections is significantly influenced by thermal boundary conditions. The internal thermal boundary conditions can be simulated by inputting the convection heat transfer coefficient and the temperatures inside the cavities or by establishing air elements in the FEM. In order to analyze the influence of different simulation methods for the internal thermal boundary conditions on temperature distributions for concrete closed girder cross-sections, the temperature distributions on the cross-sections of a box girder, small box girders, and adjacent box girders were monitored, and the corresponding FEMs were implemented. By comparing the temperature data obtained from the field test and FEMs, the numerical hourly temperature curves calculated by using the measured temperatures inside the cavities provide the closest agreement with the measured results; however, the measurements of the temperatures on site are cost- and time-prohibitive. When there is a lack of measured temperatures inside the cavities, the numerical hourly temperature curves calculated by establishing air elements in the FEM provide the closest agreement. The influences of different simulation methods for the internal thermal boundary conditions on the highest hourly average effective temperatures and the trends of the vertical temperature gradients for concrete closed girder cross-sections were small. The FEM with air elements can be adopted to analyze the temperature distributions on concrete closed girder cross-sections under historically extreme temperature conditions. It can be predicted that the longitudinal thermal movement of concrete closed girders would be underestimated by considering variations in the one-year measured average effective temperature of the cross-sections or the Chinese-code-specified design effective temperature for the highway bridge structures, which are thus unconservative for engineering applications. The Chinese-code-specified design vertical temperature gradients are conservative for the bridge deck surface and unconservative for the bottom flange.

Investigation of multivariate seismic surrogate demand modeling for multi-response structural systems

Probabilistic seismic risk assessment of complex multi-response structural systems requires accurate estimations of multiple engineering demand parameters (EDPs) that are related to different failure modes. One conventional way is developing multiple separate univariate seismic demand models for each of the EDPs. However, such an approach lacks sufficient consideration of the correlations among different EDPs and also requires repetitive model tuning and training. Another alternative, which has not yet been extensively studied, is to develop a single multivariate surrogate demand model (MvSDM) that is able to jointly provide the estimates for all the EDPs. To facilitate more accurate and realistic seismic demand modeling of multi-response structural systems, the present study conducts a comprehensive investigation of different MvSDMs, which are constituted by a systematic trend model that characterizes the mean response hypersurface, and a covariance model that quantifies the correlated model errors. Three types of systematic trend models including multivariate linear regression (MvLR), partial least squares regression (PLSR) and artificial neural network (ANN); along with three model error covariance estimation methods including joint probabilistic demand model (JPSDM) method, sample regression residual covariance (SCOV) method and multi-output Gaussian process regression (MOGP), are considered. The influence of trend model and error covariance model selection on seismic demand and fragility modeling is then studied based on a typical three-span concrete-girder highway bridge structure in the Central and Southeastern US. The results suggest that kernel PLSR and ANN as the systematic trend models, and the SCOV method as the error covariance model are promising alternatives that can contribute to accurate and reliable multivariate surrogate demand modeling yet with good computational efficiency.

Durability of Concrete Under the Combined Action of Carbonization and Fatigue Loading of Vehicles

Natural factors such as environments gradually cause the aging of structural materials of concrete bridges and mechanical properties of the components are constantly degraded. When highway bridge structures are under the combined with vehicle loading and environmental diversities, the degradation of structural performance is further aggravated. In this study, according to the deterioration trend of concrete durability in atmospheric environment, durability tests for concrete under the combined action of fatigue loading of vehicles and carbonization were performed by artificial climate simulation. A bending fatigue test for concrete under vehicle loading was carried out, and the trend of fatigue life change with vehicle loading level and the trend of fatigue strain development were obtained. The results show that the fatigue life increases with the decrease in fatigue loading level of vehicles, and the logarithmic value of fatigue life Nf is linear with the fatigue stress level S. Fast carbonization tests for concrete were performed with respect to the fatigue damage degree D of 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8. It was found that the carbonization trend of fatigue damaged concrete under vehicle loading follows the Fick first law. The carbonization depth increases with the increase in carbonization time, relatively fast at the initial stage and then slowly at the later stage. When the fatigue damage degree D is less than 0.4, the effects of fatigue damage on carbonization is relatively small. When D is more than 0.4, the effect of fatigue damage on carbonization is relatively significant. The extension of interior micro-cracks and micropores caused by fatigue damage is a significant factor affecting the carbonization performance of fatigue damaged concrete. The change trend of carbonization depth of damaged concrete with time was fitted and analyzed. An influencing factor of fatigue damage was introduced, and a durability prediction model for concrete under the combined action of carbonization and fatigue loading of vehicles was established.

Condition assessment of an ASR-affected overpass after nearly 50 years in service

RBC overpass was a highway bridge structure that was built using an alkali-silica reactive aggregate. Over nearly 5 decades, many signs of distress were developed on the various RBC structural members mainly due to alkali-silica reaction (ASR). In 2010/2011, RBC overpass was demolished and thus a number of cores from the various structural members were extracted, which enabled the condition assessment of the structure through a comprehensive multi-level protocol. This paper presents the outcomes obtained from the overall evaluation of RBC members. Results show that the damage degree of the distinct members vary according to the member’s type and condition. Very high, high and moderate damage levels were found for the foundation blocks, bridge deck and columns of the structure, which indicates that RBC overpass was not in accordance with Canadian safety protocols by the time of its demolition and raises concerns regarding the structural implications of ASR-affected infrastructure.

A metamodeling based seismic life-cycle cost assessment framework for highway bridge structures

This study presents a novel framework for seismic life-cycle cost assessment of highway bridges using parameterized fragility models rooted in modern statistical learning techniques. Unlike traditional fragility curves, often used for seismic loss assessment, the parameterized fragility models are multi-dimensional functions conditioned on ground motion intensity as well as critical field measurable bridge parameters. Such functions are particularly useful for prompt vulnerability estimation and life-cycle cost assessment of structurally dissimilar highway bridges across bridge portfolios in regions characterized by moderate to high seismicity. Consequently, the proposed framework can aid decision makers and stakeholders for efficient channeling of monetary resources for necessary seismic upgrade of highway bridges within a transportation network. As a case-study example, this study chooses the non-seismically designed multi-span simply supported concrete girders highway bridge class that constitutes a significant portion of the highway bridge inventory within Central and Southeastern US. The proposed parameterized fragility functions for this bridge are used along with seismic hazard data and probabilistic repair cost information for seismic loss assessment through a component-level approach. In addition to near-instant seismic life-cycle cost assessment, as demonstrated through several examples, this approach also helps avert potential double counting from multiple component damage while calculating system-level losses.

On the effectiveness of principal component analysis for decoupling structural damage and environmental effects in bridge structures

An accurate and reliable identification of structural damage is of prime importance to evaluate the structural integrity of civil infrastructure systems. However, the adverse effect of normal fluctuations in the environment on the effectiveness of damage detection techniques remains a continuing challenge in structural health monitoring applications. In this paper, we present the application of principal component analysis (PCA) to temporal damage detection in continuous beam bridge structures subjected to changing environmental effects. For this purpose, we show that sudden discontinuities in the principal components occur at the onset of damage, and that these discontinuities are observed in the projections of the vibration data on the principal components space. The magnitude of the discontinuity is used to define a damage index for damage quantification. A comprehensive numerical study is used to validate the approach on a continuous beam model of highway bridge structures. In particular a sensitivity analysis is conducted to study the effect of both temperature-dependent boundary conditions and material properties on the principal components for multiple damage scenarios. The numerical results show that the approach is robust to mild nonlinearities caused by the effect of temperature on material properties of composite steel-concrete sections and boundary conditions. Furthermore, the approach is experimentally validated using data of the Z24 bridge in Switzerland measured during a period of one year. It is shown that the approach has the capability of tracking the temporal evolution of various damage states induced on the bridge during the testing program.

ANALISIS APLIKASI STRUKTUR TRUSS BERPENAMPANG MELINTANG SEGITIGA UNTUK JEMBATAN JALAN RAYA

Truss structure which is often used for primary girder of bridge of highway is a Warren or Pratt type, what is its use combined with two horizontal truss attached below and above functioning as truss of wind bracing. Though have space dimension, but its structure is not pure of truss space, practically its analysis is done to each truss, vertical and horizontal which is considered as plane truss. Truss structure with a trianggular cross section type represent other alternative from structure truss which can is also used as a highway bridge structure, and this type truss represent purification truss space. Beside that, structurally entire element truss together have the contribution to arrest forced from all direction, and cause this type truss is more stable in arrest torsion and shear compared to a other structure truss bridge type. Method used to analyse structure of truss that is stiffness matrix method by means of assist calculation of Microsoft Excel 2007. Result to be reached from this analysis is to find relation of between span length, depth of truss and to the number of panel, to weight of structure and translation of a joint; utilize to get optimum weight and translation of joint. Pursuant to result analyse to three group of sample truss model, each group consisted of three sample, in each depth condition of certain truss, there's only one optimum weight value at one particular truss, and angle of inclination of diagonal and also the span-depth ratio and depth of economic truss still stay in gyration of economic values is such as those which applied for plane truss