Reliability-Based Assessment of Girder-Damaged Bridges

Abstract

This study aims to develop a process management that enables the Structural Health Monitoring method, which can be adapted to any relevant structure, to detect aging or instantaneous changes in the structure, to provide immediate maintenance and repair of the structure when necessary and to extend its life. To this end, within the scope of the SmartEN project supported by the European Union Marie Curie Research Program, it is aimed to develop a general framework and process to combine the strengths of Life Cycle Management and Structural Health Monitoring methods and demonstrate their benefits. Structural system identification tools provide the ability to capture real modes and structural responses. However, these parameters are not meaningful for Lifecycle Management, these parameters need to be translated into reliability index to be converted into actionable data. Therefore, to find the reliability index or failure probability of the structural elements or the structure itself, it is necessary to define some kind of parameter or trend for the current serviceability limit or ultimate limit state function. In this research, the structural reliability evaluation of S101 post-tensioned reinforced concrete bridge girder located in Reibersdorf, Austria was investigated. In the pogressive-damaged test scenario; it is assumed that the loss in the amount of post-tensioned reinforcement will also lead to a reduction in the cross-sectional area of the tensile forces. Two separate reliability analysis cases were considered for the support and span of the S101 Bridge. The applied method included a nonlinear finite element structural model, a probability model for traffic load, and a resistance model related to the properties, dimensions and reinforcement placement of the damaged girder. Structural reliability was estimated in terms of reliability index using the first order reliability method. Bridge reliability was calculated for ultimate limit states. © 2023, Ankara University. All rights reserved.