Ultrasonic dead load testing of steel highway bridges

摘要

In diagnosing the structural health of a steel highway bridge it is important to determine accumulated fatigue damage as well as the maximum load capacity of the structure. Dynamic stress measurement required in determining accumulated fatigue damage has been demonstrated by the SonicForce Acoustic Strain Gauge. Current research and development is focused on non-intrusive assessment of relative dead load. Under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), SonicForce together with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) located in Boulder, Colorado is presently developing ultrasonic instrumentation to map these dead load stresses. This paper presents a case study of the use of the Acoustic Strain Gauge as a fatique damage diagnotic tool, and presents a new product, the Acoustic Load Gauge (ALG), that utilizes a non-contact ultrasonic technology to measure relative Dead Load stresses in steel bridges.