Monitoring of the Static and Dynamic Displacements of Railway Bridges with the Use of Inertial Sensors

Abstract

In the case of the monitoring of bridges, the determination of vertical displacements is one of the most important issues. A new measuring system has been developed and implemented for assessment of railway bridges based on measurements of the structural response to passing trains. The system uses inertial sensors: Inclinometers and accelerometers that do not need any referential points. The system records signals related to the passage of a train over a monitored bridge. The signals from inclinometers before the train’s entry are used to determine the static movement. Integrated signals from inclinometers and accelerometers are used to determine dynamic displacements when the train goes through the bridge. Signals from inclinometers are used to determine the so-called “quasi-static” component of the displacement and signal from the accelerometer to determine the dynamic component. Field tests have been carried out on a viaduct along a high-speed railway line. Periodic comparative measurements are carried out using a Total Station to verify static measurements and using inductive sensors to verify dynamic measurements. Tests of the system carried out so far have proven its usefulness for monitoring bridges in a high-speed railway (up to 200 km/h) with high accuracy while determining dynamic displacements.

The Integration of Two Interferometric Radars for Measuring Dynamic Displacement of Bridges

“…Remote Sens. 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 18 14] or methods using inertial sensors (inclinometers and accelerometers), which do not require reference points [15][16][17][18].…”

“…In such cases, remote measurement methods are preferred, e.g., vision-based methods [10][11][12][13][14] or methods Remote Sens. 2021, 13, 3668 2 of 18 using inertial sensors (inclinometers and accelerometers), which do not require reference points [15][16][17][18].…”

High Accurate Mathematical Tools to Estimate the Gravity Direction Using Two Non-Orthogonal Inclinometers

“…Inclinometers can also be used in robotics [ 11 ] and to measure bridge deflections [ 12 ] for bridge safety evaluation. Specifically, the authors of [ 13 ] developed and implemented a measuring system to assess railway bridges using measurements of the structural response to passing trains. Furthermore, low-cost tilt sensors are now commonplace in commercially available smartphones in order to make relative orientation estimates of the device.…”

Analysis of Stiffness of Clamped Joints versus Bolted Joints in Steel Structures by Means of Accelerometers and Shaking Table Tests

“…The use of natural frequency measurement from accelerometers as a means of measuring the variation in stiffness of steel structures has already been used in numerous works, such as the analysis on steel structure that had changes in its structural stiffness due to renovation processes [ 24 , 25 ]. It has also been used for the calibration of numerical models of actual steel structures and subsequent analysis of their behaviors [ 26 , 27 ], to the monitoring of the static and dynamic displacements of railway bridges with the use of inertial sensors [ 28 ], to measure the earthquake behavior of steel structures in the laboratory [ 29 , 30 ] and has also been used to dynamic assessment of masonry towers based on terrestrial radar interferometer and accelerometers [ 31 ]. The use of accelerometers for the analysis of general stiffness has also been used in various works [ 32 , 33 ], especially with the aim of structural health monitoring [ 34 , 35 ].…”