United States Department of Transportation
i
Intermodal transportation infrastructure interactions : utilizing acoustic emission and other non-destructive evaluation technologies.
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2014-09-01
[PDF-964.70 KB]
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Abstract:This project studied application of acoustic emission (AE) technology to perform structural
health monitoring of highway bridges. Highway bridges are a vital part of transportation
infrastructure and there is need for reliable non-destructive methods to monitor their structural
condition to ensure safety and efficiency. Many factors lead to the deterioration of highway
bridges, including aging, extreme events such as natural disasters, other hazards including
negligence, improper maintenance, and collisions, and, most importantly, operational loads from
the increased freight transportation truck weights.
A candidate structure – a steel girder bridge crossing of the Interstate I-64 over the Route 165
Kempsville Road in Norfolk, VA, was selected for this study. This bridge has a known, visually
identified defect on girder 9 – crack in the stiffener-to-girder connection weld. Therefore this
work concentrated on the AE analysis of girder 9 of this bridge and girder 8 of this structure was
taken up for comparison. AE activity was found to be occurring in both girders 8 and 9 of the
steel girder bridge selected for this study. There was weak AE activity reported in girder 8 and
this activity exhibited no increase during the period of this research. On the other hand, girder 9
of this bridge was found to be experiencing significantly stronger levels of AE activity which
noticeably increased during the same period. The majority of the girder 9 AE activity sources
were determined to be located in the vicinity of sensors 3, 4, and 5, which is where the visually
identified crack exists on the girder. It was confirmed that the AE technique is capable of
revealing material defects in steel girder bridges and is suitable for conducting long-term
monitoring of structural safety to reduce and prioritize maintenance efforts.
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