For the deflection measurement of a bridge, sensor inaccessibility due to the reference point (fixed point) may cause lots of inconvenience and increase of installation cost and time. Therefore, an alternative indirect deflection estimation method is proposed utilizing the FE model updating with measured acceleration data from an ambient vibration test. For the fast and stable optimization during the model updating, two step model updating approach is additionally proposed. To investigate the effects of used modal quantities and their weighting factors, extensive model updating was carried out by applying several kinds of data sets: using only natural frequencies, using only mode shapes, and using both of them, By simulating the load test on each of the updated model, deflections were estimated and compared with the real measured deflection data in the load test.

Date Published: 8 April 2008
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 6932, Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2008, 693220 (8 April 2008); doi: 10.1117/12.776155

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6932:
Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2008
Masayoshi Tomizuka, Editor(s)