Determination Method of Bridge Rotation Angle Response Using MEMS IMU

Abstract

To implement steel bridge maintenance, especially that related to fatigue damage, it is important to monitor bridge deformations under traffic conditions. Bridges deform and rotate differently under traffic load conditions because their structures differ in terms of length and flexibility. Such monitoring enables the identification of the cause of stress concentrations that cause fatigue damage and the proposal of appropriate countermeasures. However, although bridge deformation monitoring requires observations of bridge angle response as well as the bridge displacement response, measuring the rotation angle response of a bridge subject to traffic loads is difficult. Theoretically, the rotation angle response can be calculated by integrating the angular velocity, but for field measurements of actual in-service bridges, estimating the necessary boundary conditions would be difficult due to traffic-induced vibration. To solve the problem, this paper proposes a method for determining the rotation angle response of an in-service bridge from its angular velocity, as measured by a inertial measurement unit (IMU). To verify our proposed method, field measurements were conducted using nine micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) IMUs and two contact displacement gauges. The results showed that our proposed method provided high accuracy when compared to the reference responses calculated by the contact displacement gauges.

A bibliometric review of the status and emerging research trends in construction safety management technologies

“…This cluster was summarised as 'Structure Evaluation (SE). In recent years, technologies such as temperature sensors, pressure sensors and optical fibre sensors have been adopted to evaluate structures and structural components (Tang and Yan 2013;Yu et al 2015;Sekiya et al 2016).…”

Applying Sensor-Based Technology to Improve Construction Safety Management

“…For example, temperature sensors embedded in concrete can record the concrete hardening process in an early phase, which has been used to evaluate the quality, compressive strength and flatness of concrete [ 64 ]; optical fiber sensors embedded in concrete have been applied to monitor the strain and cracks of structures [ 65 ]. In recent years, WSN has been widely utilized in structural health monitoring of bridges [ 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 ], dams [ 72 , 73 ] and other important infrastructures concerning people’s life. For example, Shen et al [ 74 ] developed a WSN for structural health monitoring of China National Stadium (Bird’s Nest).…”

Nondestructive Testing of the Miter Gates Using Various Measurement Methods

“…20 cm vertically and 6 cm horizontally. Other interesting tests are specified in [33], where surveying measurements were performed using the IMU (inertial measurement unit). Measurements were related to bridge deformation during normal operation.…”