Health monitoring and problem solving for cable supported bridges

摘要

Increasing use of structural cables in modern construction demands better understanding of their overall condition. A prominent application of structural cables is in cable-stayed bridges, where stay cables are arguably the most crucial elements of the entire structure. Stay cables and their conditions must therefore be a primary area of focus. In this paper, innovative techniques for rapid, accurate, reliable, and practical non-invasive measurement of forces in tension elements are introduced. Local and global damage detection methods tailored specifically for cable-stayed bridges are described. These include the ultrasonic technique for detection of damages in anchorage zones of cables. A new global damage detection method, Precursor Transformation Method (PTM), developed specifically for cable structures, is also introduced as a means for analyzing and correlating the damage sources and their relative importance. Further, the excessive vibration issue involving several cable-stayed bridges and means to suppress these oscillations are discussed.