1

Outline

Introduction

Dynamic Testing

Classification of dynamic testing procedures

Data acquisition

Modal analysis and identification

Vibration testing of a highway bridge

Concluding remarks

2
 Introduction
• Condition assessment of bridges is becoming essential as most of the existing
bridges are becoming old and do not have complete design information.
• Current condition assessment procedures (both destructive and non-destructive
methods) are largely based on visual inspections and described by subjective
indices, which do not permit accurate evaluation of bridge dynamics,
serviceability and safety.
• Vibration testing is gaining importance in assessing the current condition of the
bridges.
• Vibration measurement and system identification forms part of an overall bridge
management programme
• Although the basis for vibration-based condition assessment appears intuitive,
its actual application poses many significant technical challenges.
• These challenges are supplemented by many practical issues associated with
making accurate and repeatable vibration measurements at a limited number of
locations on complex structures often operating in adverse environments.
• The basic principle of using vibration testing for condition assessment of
bridges relies on the fact that vibration response is a sensitive indication of the
physical integrity of any structure.
3
 Introduction (contd . . .)

• In this type of testing, mechanical energy in the form of a shock or vibration is

imparted to excite the whole or a large portion of the bridge.
• The consequent overall vibration response provides a measure of the condition of
the structure.
• Vibration testing can be viewed as a procedure for determining the resonance or
natural frequencies of a structure which are referred to as the modal parameters
of the particular mode.
• The identified vibration mode shape for each natural frequency corresponds to the
deflected shape when the structure is vibrating at that frequency.
• Full scale vibration testing offers the opportunity for global inspection that may be
able to detect critical local failures in the bridge.
• For successful utilization of vibration data in assessing structural condition,
measurements should be taken at points where all the modes are well presented.
• The simplest way of achieving this is to conduct a theoretical vibration analysis
prior to test.
• The best positions would be those points where the sum of the magnitudes of the
mode shape vectors is maximized
4
 Dynamic testing of structures - Basic Principle
The basic principle of using dynamic testing for condition assessment of
bridges relies on the fact that dynamic response is a sensitive indication of the
physical integrity of any structure. Dynamic testing can be viewed as a
procedure for determining the resonance or natural frequencies of a structure.

System Modal
Parameters Parameters

Stiffness Natural Frequency

Mass Dynamic response Mode shape

of a structure

Damping Modal damping values

Each vibration mode has a different energy distribution, any localized

damage will affect each mode differently depending on the location and
severity of the damage.

5
 Need for dynamic testing of bridges

 Dynamic measurements on a full-scale structure serve to increase the

database on dynamic behaviour of similar structures

 The integrity of a structure can be determined after the occurrence of an

overload

 To validate theoretical models of structures

 To assess the integrity of a structure when higher loading levels are envisaged
either due to a change of use, higher environmental loading or an increase in
allowable loading

 The overall condition of a structure can be monitored by regular measurement

of its dynamic response.

 As a trouble shooting tool to verify that the behavior of a given system

conforms to that expected. This provides performance information on the
completed structure and also yields useful data for future designs

6
Dynamic testing of structures - Goals

 Determination of peak levels of vibration

 Determination of frequency spectrum of vibration

 To obtain modal characteristics i.e., natural frequencies, mode
shapes, damping ratios
 Validation of finite element models of the bridge
 To update finite element models of the bridge
 To assess and/or locate defects or damage
 To track changing modal characteristics over bridge life
 To obtain numerical indicators of bridge health

7
Why still vibration testing is a research area??

The idea that changes in vibration characteristics can provide

information regarding damage in a structure is very intuitive but the
technology has taken a long time to be formally and generally adopted
by the modern engineering community. The main reasons are

 Standard modal properties represent a form of data compression

 Difficulty to identify all the modes contributing to the measured
response
 Local response is captured by higher frequency modes whereas
lower frequency modes tend to capture the global response
 Time-histories can not be used directly for indicating the damage
Doebling, et al.(1996)

29/12/2019 8
Different stages in dynamic testing of bridges

STRUCTURE 6 7 9 10
TEST

LOAD
1
INPUT
8

5 4 3 2

1 - Test control unit (micro-computer) 6 - Motion/response transducers

2 - Excitation signal generation 7 - Signal conditioning

3 - Power amplification 8 - Signal monitoring

4 - Excitation mechanism 9 - Signal recording

5 - Force transducer 10 - Signal/data processing and analysis

9
Classification Of Dynamic Testing Procedures

Ambient (natural vibration) tests

Ambient excitation is defined as the excitation experienced by a structure
under its normal operating conditions. The input excitation is not under the
control of the engineer. Sources are traffic, wind, wave motion, and seismic
excitation etc...

Measured (Forced) input tests

Measured or forced excitation methods involve application of input excitation
of known force levels at known frequencies. The input is thus under the
control of the engineer who is undertaking the experiment. Different forcing
techniques used are various types of shakers, step-relaxation, and various
methods of measured impact.
Forced vibration testing is based on the fact that if the loads on a structure
are known and the resulting motion can be measured, then it should be
possible to estimate the structural properties

10
Forced vibration
Impact excitation

Impact excitation is the simplest means of applying an impact

to a structure by using an instrumented hammer or a
suspended mass to deliver blows to the structure.

A simple impact hammer device

Excitation using a drop weight

11
Forced vibration
Step-relaxation test

Step-relaxation input typically involves the sudden release of a

static force that has been applied to a point of the structure. This
method can excite a wide range of frequencies. The most common
methods are applying the force to a bridge by using a tensioned
cable. An explosive bolt-cutter can be used to quickly cut the cable.

12
Forced vibration
Shaker excitation methods
Many measured-inputs to bridge structures have been applied with either
rotating unbalanced, servo-hydraulic or electrodynamic shakers. Shakers
offer the advantage of being able to vary the input waveform. Typically,
harmonic, random or swept-sine signals are generated with a shaker.

Eccentric mass vibrator

Side View Plan

This type of vibrator generates vibratory force by using a rotating shaft carrying
a mass whose centre-of-mass is displaced from the centre-of-rotation of the
shaft. The motion generating the force can be circular or rectilinear. The
magnitude of the applied force is constant for a particular setting of mass,
rotational speed and the out of balance displacement

13
Forced vibration
Electrodynamic shaker
This type of shaker applies many
different forms of excitation to a
structure, provided that a means of
generating the control signal exists. It
has nominal sinusoidal peak force,
which, when testing full-scale
structures, is generated by
accelerating reaction masses attached
to the armature of the shaker.
The types of excitation which can be
applied using this shaker can be very
broadly classified into two categories
1) steady-state excitation
(e.g. stepped sine, slow swept sine)
2) broad-band excitation
(e.g. continuous random, burst
swept sine, burst random)

14
Forced vibration
Electrohydraulic actuator

Electro-hydraulic shakers will be used for generating higher forces.

The force is generated through the reciprocating motion induced
by the high-pressure flow of a liquid. the system usually consists of
a servo-controlled hydraulic actuator, which drives an attached
mass. The weight of the mass can be varied to obtain varying force
magnitudes. The vibrators provide relatively high vibration strokes
and allow accurate excitation at different frequencies in bending or
torsion.

15
Excitation methods - Comparison
 Ambient vibration often provides a means of evaluating the response of the
structure to the actual vibration environment of interest. A drawback of using
ambient excitation is that this type of input is often non-stationary and
produces undesirable and often unavoidable extraneous inputs to the
structure.
 Impact excitation is widely regarded to be a relatively cheap, quick and easy
method of performing modal testing, when compared with the various forms of
shaker excitation. Impact excitation is not practical for excitation of a bridge’s
lateral modes.
 The signal processing issues regarding hammer impulse excitation are more
complex than when using the more controlled shaker excitation. The energy
input from shaker excitation is usually many orders of magnitude higher than
that from hammer impulse excitation.
 The size and type of vibration generators will depend largely on the size of the
bridges being tested. For investigating smaller bridges (e.g. highway overpass
bridges) with resonant frequencies above 1 Hz, it is better to use a sinusoidal
eccentric mass vibrator. For testing larger bridges with lower resonant
frequencies (e.g. suspension bridges with modes down to 0.1 Hz or so) then a
hydraulic actuated vibrator may be more cost effective.
16
Vibration Based SHM:Sensors

• Different forms of dynamic structural response:–Displacement, Velocity,

Acceleration, Strain.
− Which ones to measure depends on monitoring conditions and objectives.
• Sensing technology: an ever emerging field of study
• Based on what to measure, different sensors available:–Laser Displacement
Sensors(LDS)
− Velocity Transducers
− Seismometers
− Piezoelectric Accelerometers
− Strain Gauges

• Most of these sensors can be

wirelessly connected

17
DATA ACQUISITION AND SIGNAL CONTROL
• Vibration testing is usually achieved by using strain gauges,
accelerometers, or other response transducers, to measure the response
of the structure to artificially induced excitation forces or ambient forces in
the service environment.

• FE analysis can be used to determine points along the decks where

motion is observed for most of the first few modes and a reference point
can be chosen to compute frequency response functions.

 The hardware of data acquisition system consists of remote intelligent

nodes that communicate to a local PC.

 The nodes contain the necessary electronics to interface with sensors

having analog, frequency or digital outputs.

 The software is a multitasking system for continuous automatic data

acquisition for all sensors.

 A database system should be included in the PC at the bridge site for on-
line calculation of statistical values of raw data files for local display or
analysis of stored raw data.
18
SHM by Structural System Identification

19
Many sources of uncertainty in the different stages of SHM:
During data acquisition:
• Measurement noise,
• Environmental effects (different temperature, humidity levels),
• Unknown and nonstationary inputs (traffic, wind, earthquake;

may excite different frequency regions),

• Missing data (not every point on the structure observed).

During feature extraction/ modeling/ identification:

• Modeling assumptions,
• Errors associated with any numerical method,
• Non-unique identification (many models may fit the measured data
equally well).

20