Field monitoring of the train-induced hanger vibration in a high-speed railway steel arch bridge

Youliang Ding,Yonghui An,Chao Wang 국제구조공학회 2016 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.17 No.6

Studies on dynamic characteristics of the hanger vibration using field monitoring data are important for the design and evaluation of high-speed railway truss arch bridges. This paper presents an analysis of the hanger\'s dynamic displacement responses based on field monitoring of Dashengguan Yangtze River Bridge, which is a high-speed railway truss arch bridge with the longest span throughout the world. The three vibration parameters, i.e., dynamic displacement amplitude, dynamic load factor and vibration amplitude, are selected to investigate the hanger\'s vibration characteristics in each railway load case including the probability statistical characteristics and coupled vibration characteristics. The influences of carriageway and carriage number on the hanger\'s vibration characteristics are further investigated. The results indicate that: (1) All the eight railway load cases can be successfully identified according to the relationship of responses from strain sensors and accelerometers in the structural health monitoring system. (2) The hanger\'s three vibration parameters in each load case in the longitudinal and transverse directions have obvious probabilistic characteristics. However, they fall into different distribution functions. (3) There is good correlation between the hanger\'s longitudinal/transverse dynamic displacement and the main girder\'s transverse dynamic displacement in each load case, and their relationships are shown in the hysteresis curves. (4) Influences of the carriageway and carriage number on the hanger\'s three parameters are different in both longitudinal and transverse directions; while the influence on any of the three parameters presents an obvious statistical trend. The present paper lays a good foundation for the further analysis of train-induced hanger vibration and control.

Data abnormal detection using bidirectional long-short neural network combined with artificial experience

YouLiang Ding,Kang Yang,Huachen Jiang,Manya Wang,Chunfeng Wan 국제구조공학회 2022 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.29 No.1

Data anomalies seriously threaten the reliability of the bridge structural health monitoring system and may trigger system misjudgment. To overcome the above problem, an efficient and accurate data anomaly detection method is desiderated. Traditional anomaly detection methods extract various abnormal features as the key indicators to identify data anomalies. Then set thresholds artificially for various features to identify specific anomalies, which is the artificial experience method. However, limited by the poor generalization ability among sensors, this method often leads to high labor costs. Another approach to anomaly detection is a data-driven approach based on machine learning methods. Among these, the bidirectional long-short memory neural network (BiLSTM), as an effective classification method, excels at finding complex relationships in multivariate time series data. However, training unprocessed original signals often leads to low computation efficiency and poor convergence, for lacking appropriate feature selection. Therefore, this article combines the advantages of the two methods by proposing a deep learning method with manual experience statistical features fed into it. Experimental comparative studies illustrate that the BiLSTM model with appropriate feature input has an accuracy rate of over 87-94%. Meanwhile, this paper provides basic principles of data cleaning and discusses the typical features of various anomalies. Furthermore, the optimization strategies of the feature space selection based on artificial experience are also highlighted.

Temperature-induced Variations of Measured Modal Frequencies of Steel Box Girder for a Long-span Suspension Bridge

YouLiang Ding,AiQun Li 한국강구조학회 2011 International Journal of Steel Structures Vol.11 No.2

This paper addresses the temperature-induced variations of measured modal frequencies of steel box girder for a suspension bridge using long-tem monitoring data. The output-only modal frequency identification of the bridge is effectively carried out using the Iterative Windowed Curve-fitting Method (IWCM) in the frequency-domain. The daily and seasonal correlations of frequency-temperature are investigated in detail and the analysis results reveal that: (i) the identified modal frequencies using IWCM provide an effective indication for changes of the bridge due to the ambient temperature variations; (ii) temperature is the critical source causing modal variability, and there is an overall decrease in modal frequency with temperature for all the identified modes; (iii) the random variations in measured modal frequencies mainly arise from the identification algorithm due to the nonstationary loadings, which can be effectively eliminated using multi-sample averaging technique; (iv) the daily averaged modal frequencies of vibration modes have remarkable seasonal correlations with the daily averaged temperature and the seasonal correlation models of frequency-temperature are suitable for structural damage warning if future seasonal correlation models deviate from these normal models.

Thermal Field Characteristic Analysis of Steel Box Girder Based on Long-term Measurement Data

Youliang Ding,Guangdong Zhou,Aiqun Li,Gaoxin Wang 한국강구조학회 2012 International Journal of Steel Structures Vol.12 No.2

Thermal loads are important factors that affect the serviceability of long-span bridges. In this paper, the distribution characteristics and statistical features of thermal field in flat steel box girder are presented based on long-term field measurement data collected by the structural health monitoring system (SHMS) permanently installed on the Runyang Suspension Bridge (RSB). Firstly, the daily variations as well as seasonal ones of measurement temperature and temperature differences in the box girder cross-section are summarized. Secondly, employing a combined probability distribution model defined by the weighted sum of one Weibull distribution and one normal distribution, the probability density function (PDF)of each temperature difference is formulated. Thirdly, making use of the extreme value analysis, the extreme temperature differences are predicted with a return period of bridge design working life and compared with the expected values in British standard (BS EN 1991-1-5, 2003). Finally, the critical temperature difference models in cross-section are proposed for thermal stresses calculation according to correlation analysis. The results provide a clear understanding of thermal field in flat steel box girder bridges and have reference values for structural design and evaluation.

Statistical characteristics of sustained wind environment for a long-span bridge based on long-term field measurement data

Youliang Ding,Guangdong Zhou,Yang Deng,Aiqun Li 한국풍공학회 2013 한국풍공학회지 Vol.17 No.1

The fluctuating wind induced vibration is one of the most important factors which has been taken into account in the design of long-span bridge due to the low stiffness and low natural frequency. Field measurement characteristics of sustained wind on structure site can provide accurate wind load parameters for wind field simulation and structural wind resistance design. As a suspension bridge with 1490 m main span, the Runyang Suspension Bridge (RSB) has high sensitivity to fluctuating wind. The simultaneous and continuously wind environment field measurement both in mid-span and on tower top is executed from 2005 up to now by the structural health monitoring system installed on this bridge. Based on the recorded data, the wind characteristic parameters, including mean wind speed, wind direction, the turbulence intensity, the gust factors, the turbulence integral length, power spectrum and spatial correlation, are analyzed in detail and the coherence functions of those parameters are evaluated using statistical method in this paper. The results indicate that, the turbulence component of sustain wind is larger than extremely strong winds although its mean wind speed is smaller; the correlation between turbulence parameters is obvious; the power spectrum is special and not accord with the Simiu spectrum and von Karman spectrum. Results obtained in this study can be used to evaluate the long term reliability of the Runyang Suspension Bridge and provide reference values for wind resistant design of other structures in this region.

Structural health monitoring of a high-speed railway bridge: five years review and lessons learned

Ding, Youliang,Ren, Pu,Zhao, Hanwei,Miao, Changqing Techno-Press 2018 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.21 No.5

Based on monitoring data collected from the Nanjing Dashengguan Bridge over the last five years, this paper systematically investigates the effects of temperature field and train loadings on the structural responses of this long-span high-speed railway bridge, and establishes the early warning thresholds for various structural responses. Then, some lessons drawn from the structural health monitoring system of this bridge are summarized. The main context includes: (1) Polynomial regression models are established for monitoring temperature effects on modal frequencies of the main girder and hangers, longitudinal displacements of the bearings, and static strains of the truss members; (2) The correlation between structural vibration accelerations and train speeds is investigated, focusing on the resonance characteristics of the bridge at the specific train speeds; (3) With regard to various static and dynamic responses of the bridge, early warning thresholds are established by using mean control chart analysis and probabilistic analysis; (4) Two lessons are drawn from the experiences in the bridge operation, which involves the lacks of the health monitoring for telescopic devices on the beam-end and bolt fractures in key members of the main truss.

Statistical characteristics of sustained wind environment for a long-span bridge based on long-term field measurement data

Ding, Youliang,Zhou, Guangdong,Li, Aiqun,Deng, Yang Techno-Press 2013 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.17 No.1

The fluctuating wind induced vibration is one of the most important factors which has been taken into account in the design of long-span bridge due to the low stiffness and low natural frequency. Field measurement characteristics of sustained wind on structure site can provide accurate wind load parameters for wind field simulation and structural wind resistance design. As a suspension bridge with 1490 m main span, the Runyang Suspension Bridge (RSB) has high sensitivity to fluctuating wind. The simultaneous and continuously wind environment field measurement both in mid-span and on tower top is executed from 2005 up to now by the structural health monitoring system installed on this bridge. Based on the recorded data, the wind characteristic parameters, including mean wind speed, wind direction, the turbulence intensity, the gust factors, the turbulence integral length, power spectrum and spatial correlation, are analyzed in detail and the coherence functions of those parameters are evaluated using statistical method in this paper. The results indicate that, the turbulence component of sustain wind is larger than extremely strong winds although its mean wind speed is smaller; the correlation between turbulence parameters is obvious; the power spectrum is special and not accord with the Simiu spectrum and von Karman spectrum. Results obtained in this study can be used to evaluate the long term reliability of the Runyang Suspension Bridge and provide reference values for wind resistant design of other structures in this region.

Big data platform for health monitoring systems of multiple bridges

Wang, Manya,Ding, Youliang,Wan, Chunfeng,Zhao, Hanwei Techno-Press 2020 Structural monitoring and maintenance Vol.7 No.4

At present, many machine leaning and data mining methods are used for analyzing and predicting structural response characteristics. However, the platform that combines big data analysis methods with online and offline analysis modules has not been used in actual projects. This work is dedicated to developing a multifunctional Hadoop-Spark big data platform for bridges to monitor and evaluate the serviceability based on structural health monitoring system. It realizes rapid processing, analysis and storage of collected health monitoring data. The platform contains offline computing and online analysis modules, using Hadoop-Spark environment. Hadoop provides the overall framework and storage subsystem for big data platform, while Spark is used for online computing. Finally, the big data Hadoop-Spark platform computational performance is verified through several actual analysis tasks. Experiments show the Hadoop-Spark big data platform has good fault tolerance, scalability and online analysis performance. It can meet the daily analysis requirements of 5s/time for one bridge and 40s/time for 100 bridges.

Influence of structural system measures on the dynamic characteristics of a multi-span cable-stayed bridge

Geng, Fangfang,Ding, Youliang,Xie, Hongen,Song, Jianyong,Li, Wanheng Techno-Press 2014 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.52 No.1

A three-dimensional finite element model for the Jiashao Bridge, the longest multi-span cable-stayed bridge in the world, is established using the commercial software package ANSYS. Dynamic characteristics of the bridge are analyzed and the effects of structural system measures including the rigid hinge, auxiliary piers and longitudinal constraints between the girders and side towers on the dynamic properties including modal frequency, mode shape and effective mass are studied by referring to the Jiashao Bridge. The analysis results reveal that: (i) the installation of the rigid hinge significantly reduces the modal frequency of the first symmetric lateral bending mode of bridge deck. Moreover, the rigid hinge significantly changes the mode shape and effective mass of the first symmetric torsional mode of bridge deck; (ii) the layout of the auxiliary piers in the side-spans has a limited effect on changing the modal frequencies, mode shapes and effective masses of global vibration modes; (iii) the employment of the longitudinal constraints significantly increases the modal frequencies of the vertical bending modes and lateral bending modes of bridge deck and have significant effects on changing the mode shapes of vertical bending modes and lateral bending modes of bridge deck. Moreover, the effective mass of the first anti-symmetric vertical bending of bridge deck in the longitudinal direction of the fully floating system is significantly larger than that of the partially constrained system and fully constrained system. The results obtained indicate that the structural system measures of the multi-span cable-stayed bridge have a great effect on the dynamic properties, which deserves special attention for seismic design and wind-resistant design of the multi-span cable-stayed bridge.

An architecture of lifecycle fatigue management of steel bridges driven by Digital Twin

Jiang, Fei,Ding, Youliang,Song, Yongsheng,Geng, Fangfang,Wang, Zhiwen Techno-Press 2021 Structural monitoring and maintenance Vol.8 No.2

The fatigue of steel bridges poses a great threat to their safety and functionality. However, current approaches for fatigue management are largely based on heuristic design philosophies, physical testing, and bridge managers' experience. This paper proposes a closed lifecycle fatigue management driven by Digital Twin for steel bridges. To provide clarity around the concept, the definition of Digital Twin for steel bridges is given at first. Then eight functional modules supporting Digital Twin are outlined in detail, aiming to provide a reference for the future development of Digital Twin in fatigue management. Finally, the implementation mechanism of Digital Twin is further described over different phases during the bridge lifecycle. This paper also identifies two main obstacles for the development of Digital Twin: i) the lack of understanding of steel bridge fatigue, and ii) the insufficiency of the present technologies.