Safety evaluation of the upper structure of bridge based on concrete nondestructive tests

摘要

This paper develops a framework for the safety assessment of bridges based on the nondestructive test results of concrete strength. The transient elastic wave tests are adopted to measure the P wave velocity of the concrete. The Bayesian approach is adopted to construct the posterior distribution of concrete strength. Then, reliability analysis is performed to evaluate the safety of the bridge using the updated distribution. The limit-state function is formulated according to the AASHTO specifications. Finally, the reliability index is compared to the target reliability to see if repair or reconstruction is required. An example is presented to demonstrate the safety evaluation of a damaged three-spanned bridge.