Level 2 safety evaluation of concrete‐filled steel tubular arch bridges incorporating structural health monitoring and inspection information based on China bridge standards

Abstract

Summary Concrete‐filled steel tubular (CFST) arch bridges have been widely used in mainland China, and their systematic safety evaluation has gained increasing attention from the bridge authorities in recent years. This paper presents the framework and application of Level 2 safety evaluation of CFST arch bridges, incorporating structural health monitoring (SHM) and inspection information. In contrast with the traditional inspection‐based qualitative assessment and direct measurement‐based quantitative assessment for SHM, Level 2 safety evaluation considers the inevitable resistance deterioration and site‐specific loading under normal operation conditions. For such safety evaluations, the most important element is using the well‐established finite element modelling for representing the actual conditions as accurately as possible. Thus, in this study, component and global finite element model (FEM) updating techniques are employed to ensure the local and global behaviour of the updated FEM, through which several types of common CFST arch bridge defects are investigated and updated. Measured site‐specific live loads experienced by CFST arch bridges are considered and transformed into design loads for comparison. Unfavourable load patterns are applied to the updated FEM for structural reanalysis, to evaluate the component safety status, and gradually increasing unfavourable load patterns are applied to the FEM to perform an ultimate load‐bearing analysis to obtain the global safety reservation. Level 2 safety evaluation is conducted by considering modal parameters, displacements, fatigue damage, and component and global safety status. Level 2 safety evaluation is applied to a typical CFST arch bridge, to demonstrate the entire evaluation process and the effectiveness of the proposed safety evaluation framework.

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“…In recent 20 years, CFST arch bridge in China has developed rapidly. By 2015, more than 400 CFST arch bridges (more than 50 m) have been built in China, of which 54 have a span of more than 200 m, 11 have a span of more than 300 m, and 4 have a span of more than 400 m in China [1][2][3][4][5]. e completion of Hejiang No.…”

Optimization of Suspender Cable Force of Long‐Span Concrete Arch Bridges Based on Embedded Matrix Method

“…With the improvement of the design theories and construction methods and the advent of novel materials, the span of concrete-filled steel tubular arch bridges has increased significantly. In the past two decades, more than 250 concrete-filled steel tube arch bridges with a span of more than 50 m, including 7 bridges with a span of more than 400 m have been constructed in China [1][2][3][4][5]. On the other hand, as the span of the concrete-filled steel tube arch bridge increases, adjustment of the cable force becomes more complex.…”

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