Railway bridge damage detection using vehicle-based inertial measurements and apparent profile

摘要

The presence of damage in a railway bridge alters its stiffness and consequently, its static and dynamic response to loading. The dynamic response of a railway bridge to loading produces a dynamic response in the passing vehicle, potentially enabling detection of the damage through analysis of the vehicle response. A method is proposed in this paper for the detection of bridge damage through comparison of apparent profiles sensed by the passing vehicle. The apparent profile is a virtual longitudinal profile which, when applied to a vehicle, invokes the same measured response to the crossing of a bridge. A change in the deflection of the bridge due to the presence of damage manifests itself as a change in the apparent profile associated with the measured vehicle response.