Assessment of the effectiveness of retrofitting actions to a reinforced concrete bridge using full-scale vibration testing

摘要

Although significant advances have been made in the development of vibration based condition assessment reinforced concrete (RC) structures there is often scepticism about the practical application of these techniques and their value to practising engineers. The most commonly cited drawback of vibration based condition assessment is the low sensitivity of modal parameters to damage. This paper reports on successful practical application of vibration based condition assessment of two reinforced concrete bridges. The bridges exhibited signs of structural distress indicating limitations at serviceability state. Full-scale vibration tests were used for structural system identification and finding out the defects on the bridge. In addition to full-scale vibration testing dynamic strains induced by a truck of known weight were measured. Following the condition assessment exercise a retrofitting scheme was developed and implemented. Full-scale vibration tests were then performed to assess the effectiveness of retrofitting interventions.