Coastal Waterway Bridge Instrumentation for Overload Monitoring

Steve C.S. Cai, Ph.D., P.E. Professor, Edwin B. Norma S. McNeil Distinguished Professor Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 Marcio Araujo, Archana Nair, X.Z. Liu, Miao Xia, and X.M., Shi

Acknowledgments

The authors express their thankfulness to the Louisiana DOTD for providing the necessary personnel and equipment for the execution of the tests. Specifically, thanks go to Arthur DAndrea, Stephanie Cavalier, Steven Sibley and the other crew members. The contents of this report reflect only the views of the writers who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein.

Outline

Introduction to the project Instrumentation for strain gages Instrumentation for acoustic emission sensors Conclusions

Highway LA-1 over the Intracoastal Waterway in Port Allen, Louisiana

Overload approximately 540,000 pounds

The tested span is 59 ft long with four steel girders (W36X182) supporting a concrete deck. The girders were spaced at 8 ft 8 in. The girders were bolted to a cross-girder that supports them, which was also bolted to the columns.

Instrumentation Plan Strain Gages

Instrumentation Plan Strain Gages

Figure5 InstrumentationPlan

Strains of girders
300 275 250 225 200 175 150 125 100 75 50 25 0 -25 -50 -20 -10 0

Strain of Girder 1 (8975)

Sensor 8975

300 275 250 225 200 175 150 125 100 75 50 25 0 -25 -50 -20 -10 0

Strain of Girder 2 (8981)

Sensor 8981

Strain ()

Strain ()

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Time (s)

Time (s)

300 275 250 225 200 175 150 125 100 75 50 25 0 -25 -50 -20 -10

Strain of Girder 3 (8994 & 8998)

Sensor 8994 Sensor 8998
Strain ( )

300 275 250 225 200 175 150 125 100 75 50 25 0 -25 -50 -20 -10

Strain of Girder 4 (8982 & 8986)

Sensor 8982 Sensor 8986

Strain ()

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Time (s)

Time (s)

Figure 7 Overload Strains on Girders

10

Strains of Cross-Girder
300 275 250 225 200 175 150 125 100 75 50 25 0 -25 -50 -20 -10

Strain of Cross Girder (8977)

Strain ( )

Sensor 8977

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Time (s)

Figure 8 Overload Strains on Cross-Girder

11

Strain of column
Strain of Column 1 (8990 & 8991)
-20 25 0 -25 Strain () -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Strain of Column 2 (8978, 8970, 8976 & 8985)

-20 25 0 -25 Strain () -50 -75 -100 -125 -150 Sensor 8978 Sensor 8970 Sensor 8976 Sensor 8985 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

-50 -75 -100 -125 -150 Time (s) Sensor 8990 Sensor 8991

Time (s)

Figure 9 Overload Strains on Vertical Column Member

12

Strain of inclined column bracing

Strain of Brace (8987 & 8999)
-20 25 0 -25 Strain ( ) -50 -75 -100 -125 -150 Time (s) Sensor 8987 Sensor 8999 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Figure 10 Overload Strains on Inclined Column Member

13

Strain distributions
Strain of girders 225 200 175 150 125 100 75 50 25 0 0 1

Strain ()

Strain of Cross Girder=195 (t=14.4 s) Strain of Cross Girder=279 (t=21.4 s) Strain of Cross Girder=163 (t=39.5 s)

Girder Number

Figure 11 Overload Strains on Girders at Different Times

14

Strain of girders under normal traffic

Strain of Girder 1 (8975)
120 100 80
S train ( )
120 100 80
Strain ( )

Strain of Girder 2 (8981)

Sensor 8975

Sensor 8981

60 40 20 0 -20 0 25 50 75 100 125

Time (s)

60 40 20 0 -20

150

175

200

225

250

25

50

75

100

125
Time (s)

150

175

200

225

250

Strain of Girder 3 (8994 & 8998)

120 100 80
120 100 80 S train ( ) 60 40 20 0 -20

Strain of Girder 4 (8982 & 8986)

Sensor 8994 Sensor 8998

Sensor 8982 Sensor 8986

S tra in ( )

60 40 20 0 -20 0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250

25

50

75

100

125 Time (s)

150

175

200

225

250

Time (s)

Figure 12 Normal Traffic Strains on Girders (from 18-wheeler)

15

Strain of cross beam under normal traffic

120 100 80
Strain ( )

Strain of Cross Girder (8977)

60 40 20 0 -20 0 25 50 75 100 125

Time (s)

Sensor 8977 150 175 200 225 250

Figure 13 Normal Traffic Strains on Cross- Girders (from 18-wheeler)

16

Strain of column under normal traffic

Strain of Column 1 (8990 & 8991)
0 10 0 -10 Strain ( )
Strain ()

Strain of Column 2 (8978, 8970, 8976 & 8985)

200 225 250
10 0 -10 -20 -30 -40 -50 -60 -70 Sensor 8978 Sensor 8970 Sensor 8976 Sensor 8985 0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

-20 -30 -40 -50 -60 -70 Time (s) Sensor 8990 Sensor 8991

Time (s)

Figure 14 Normal Traffic Strains on Vertical Column Members (from 18-wheeler)

17

Strain of inclined column bracing under normal traffic

Strain of Brace (8987 & 8999)
0 10 0 -10 Strain () -20 -30 Sensor 8987 -40 -50 -60 -70 Time (s) Sensor 8999 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250

Figure 15 Normal Traffic Strains on Inclined Column Members (from 18-wheeler)

18

Strain distribution of girders under normal traffic

Strain of girders
125 100 Strain () 75 50 25 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 Girder Number Strain of Cross Girder=86 (t=26.3 s) Strain of Cross Girder=105 (t=57.5s) Strain of Cross Girder=45 (t=168.2 s) Strain of Cross Girder=47 (t=192.4 s)

Figure 16 - Normal Traffic Strains on Girders at Different Times (from 18-wheelers)

19

Comparison of strains under overload and normal traffic

G1 Sensor # Overload Strain () Normal Traffic Strain () 8975 203

G2 8981 211

Table1- Maximum Strains Comparison Cross G3 G4 Girder 8994 8998 8982 8986 8977 205 205 138 148 279

Column1 8990 -118 8991 -130 8978 -119

Column2 8970 -93 8976 -101 8985 -85

Brace 8987 -40 8999 -40

78

113

107

102

94

97

105

-65

-66

-59

-52

-56

-50

-21

-20

20

Instrumentation Plan - Acoustic Emission Sensors

Figure 6 - Acoustic Emissions R6I-AST Sensor

21

What is Acoustic emission?

Courtesy : www.ndt-ed.org

A transient elastic wave generated by rapid release of energy from the source within a material.

Acoustic emission sensors

Sensors # 1 and 2 were placed on the mid-span of a girder and sensors # 3 and 4 were positioned at a beam-column joint.

24

Qualitative results

Load cases considered are : normal traffic load and Overload

Hits

Time (sec)

Hits

Time (sec)

Normal traffic

Overload

Hits vs Amplitude(dB) <3,4> 200 100 0 0 20 40 60 80 100

Hits vs Amplitude(dB) <3,4> 400 200 0 0 20 40 60 80 100

Figure 20 - Amplitude distribution - normal traffic phase (left) and overload phase (right)

26

Quantitative results

The intensity chart used for assessing the data from the steel bridge is designed for metal piping systems. Each zone corresponds to a particular intensity of damage.

Intensity chart for AE data collected from steel bridge

Conclusions Strain gages Strains for the overload is 211 on girder 2(1.87 times greater) and for normal traffic is 113 on girder 3. The maximum tensile strain on cross girder under normal traffic conditions is 105, while its equivalent is 279 for the overload (2.65 times greater). For column, the maximum compressive strain under normal traffic conditions is 66, while for the overload is 130 (1.97 times greater).

29

Conclusions Acoustic emission The structures response of acoustic emission to overload though slightly greater is not significantly different from normal traffic condition response. All of the results tend to imply that the structural health of the bridge is not a major concern at this time. Further continuous monitoring of the bridge using many more acoustic sensors may help to avoid concerns with the structures integrity in the future.

30

31