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2009 Modal Testing, Finite-Element Model Updating, and Dynamic Analysis of An Arch Type Steel Footbridge
2009 Modal Testing, Finite-Element Model Updating, and Dynamic Analysis of An Arch Type Steel Footbridge
2009 Modal Testing, Finite-Element Model Updating, and Dynamic Analysis of An Arch Type Steel Footbridge
Abstract: This paper describes an arch type steel footbridge, its analytical modeling, modal testing, finite-element model updating, and
dynamic analysis. A modern steel footbridge which has an arch type structural system and is located on the Karadeniz coast road in
Trabzon, Turkey is selected as an application. An analytical modal analysis is performed on the developed three-dimensional finite-
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element model of footbridge to provide analytical frequencies and mode shapes. Field ambient vibration tests on the footbridge deck under
natural excitation such as human walking and traffic loads are conducted. The output-only modal parameter identification is carried out by
using peak picking of the average normalized power spectral densities in the frequency domain and stochastic subspace identification in
the time domain, and dynamic characteristics such as natural frequencies, mode shapes, and damping ratios are determined. The finite-
element model of the footbridge is updated to minimize the differences between analytically and experimentally estimated modal
properties by changing some uncertain modeling parameters such as material properties. Dynamic analyses of the footbridge before and
after finite-element model updating are performed using the 1992 Erzincan earthquake record. At the end of the study, maximum
differences in the natural frequencies are reduced from 22 to only 5% and good agreement is found between analytical and experimental
dynamic characteristics such as natural frequencies and mode shapes by model updating. Also, maximum displacements and principal
stresses before and after model updating are compared with each other.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲0887-3828共2009兲23:2共81兲
CE Database subject headings: Finite element method; Bridges, pedestrian; Bridges, steel; Modal analysis; Stochastic processes.
subspace identification 共SSI兲 methods, which are used to extract function 共FRF兲 or impulse response function 共IRF兲 calculations
modal parameters experimentally, is given in detail. Then, the because the input force is not measured in an ambient vibration
arch type steel footbridge is described. Also, the initial finite- test. Therefore, a modal identification procedure will need to base
element model and main assumptions made during its develop- itself on output-only data 共Ren et al. 2004b兲. There are several
ment are presented. After this, modal testing of the footbridge in modal parameter identification techniques available. These tech-
frequency and time domains using PP and SSI methods is de- niques are developed by improvements in computing capacity and
scribed, together with an ambient vibration testing exercise. Then, signal processing procedures. In this study, two different methods,
experimental modal properties compared with the numerical re- which are rather the simple PP method in the frequency domain
sults and finite-element model is manually updated. Finally, dy- and the SSI method in the time domain, are used for modal pa-
namic analyses of the footbridge before and after model updating rameter extraction.
are performed and the key results of this interesting exercise are
discussed.
PP Method
The PP method is a kind of frequency domain technique. This is
Background Review the simplest known method for identifying the modal parameters
of a structure. Frequency domain algorithms have been the most
Modal Testing popular, mainly due to their simplicity and processing speed, and
also for historical reasons. These algorithms, however, involve
Modal testing of structures is not a recent practice, and many averaging of temporal information, thus discarding most of their
studies have been carried out in the past. Modal testing was origi- details. The PP technique has some theoretical drawbacks such as:
nally developed in the more advanced mechanical and aerospace 共1兲 picking the peaks is always a subjective task; 共2兲 operational
engineering disciplines 共Ewins 1984兲, where modal parameter deflection shapes are obtained instead of mode shapes; 共3兲 only
identification was based on both input and output measurements. real modes of proportionally damped structures can be deduced
After the modal testing procedure transferred to civil engineering, by the method; and 共4兲 damping estimates are unreliable 共Peeters
this procedure was successfully implemented on different types 2000兲. In spite of these drawbacks, the method is often used in
of civil engineering structures such as bridges 共Abdel-Ghaffar civil engineering practice for ambient vibration measurements
1978; Bayraktar et al. 2007d; Brownjohn 1997; Chang et al. due to its implementation simplicity and its speed. Moreover,
2001兲, building 共Sortis et al. 2005兲, historic masonry tower some refinements of the PP method exist. For instance, the coher-
共Gentile and Saisi 2007兲, stadium 共Reynolds et al. 2004兲, reactor ence function between two channels tends to go to one at the
building 共Ceballos et al. 1998兲, dam 共Zhou et al. 2000兲, silo resonance frequencies because of the strong structural response
共Dooms et al. 2006兲, and minaret 共Bayraktar et al. 2007b兲. leading to high signal-to-noise ratio at these frequencies. Conse-
quently, inspecting the coherence function can assist in selecting
Finite-Element Model Updating the eigenfrequencies 共Brincker et al. 2000兲. Theoretical back-
ground and some application studies of the PP method can be
Over the last decade, there have been several attempts to transfer
obtained in detail in the literature 共Ren et al. 2004a兲.
the updating technology from mechanical and aerospace engi-
neering to civil structural engineering. Although the whole is
more difficult to implement in civil engineering, some successful Stochastic Subspace Identification Method
examples of updating in civil engineering can be seen for bridges
共Zhang et al. 2001兲, buildings 共Lord et al. 2004兲, minarets SSI is an output-only time domain method that directly works
共Bayraktar et al. 2007e兲, and high-rise structures 共Wu and Li with time data, without the need to convert them to correlations or
2004兲. Besides these studies, there are only a few papers that spectra. The method is especially suitable for operational modal
related to modal testing, finite-element modeling and updating parameter identification, but it is an incredibly difficult procedure
of footbridges 共Zivanovic et al. 2006, 2007; Bayraktar et al. to explain in to civil engineers without going into great detail. In
2007a,c兲. this study, only the main subject of this method is presented. For
In addition to these, a well presented review of modal testing more interested readers, some detailed papers can be found in the
methods for bridges explaining their advantages and limitations literature 共Van Overschee and De Moor 1996; Peeters and De
was presented by Salawu and Williams 共1995兲. Also, a well Roeck 1999; Peeters 2000兲.
Description of Footbridge 共MAPA 2007兲. General arrangement drawings of the entire bridge
are shown in Fig. 1.
The arch type footbridge investigated is located in a heavy traffic The superstructure of the footbridge consists of steel tubes,
area in Trabzon, Turkey, and has a main span of 35 m. The foot- vertical and lateral load carrying systems, stairs, piers, and the
bridge operates as part of a pedestrian public footpath. This deck system. The arch span consists of two curved steel tubes, 12
bridge was originally designed by MAPA Engineers, Inc. in 2006 horizontal, and eight diagonally braced members. The 16 main
The 3D linear elastic finite-element model 共Fig. 2兲 of the steel The equipment used for the measurement includes four triaxial
footbridge was constructed using the software SAP2000 共1998兲. 共B&K 4506兲 and one uniaxial accelerometers 共B&K 4507兲, a 17-
This program can be used for linear and nonlinear, static, and channel data acquisition system 共B&K 3560兲, and approximately
dynamic analyses of a 3D model of the structure. In this paper, 100 m triaxial and 30 m uniaxial signal cables. Then the signals
the program was used to determine the dynamic characteristics are transferred into the PULSE Lapshop software 共Fig. 4兲. For a
based on its physical and mechanical properties. parameter estimation from the Ambient Vibration System data,
The values of the material properties used in analyses of the the Operational Modal Analysis software 共OMA 2006兲 is used.
footbridge are given in Table 1. The ambient vibration tests are conducted under environmental
loads such as human walking and traffic. To identify the mode
shapes and natural frequencies of the footbridge, structural re-
sponses at sufficient locations on the deck in the vertical, lateral,
Table 1. Material Properties Used in Analyses of Footbridge and transversal direction are obtained. Accelerometer location in
Modulus of elasticity Poisson’s Mass per unit vol. the 3D schematic view and footbridge deck is given in Fig. 5. The
Material 共N / m2兲 ratio 共kg/ m3兲 tests were conducted on three test setups. In the first test setup the
accelerometers are placed at the corner of the footbridge deck as
Steel 2.000E11 0.3 7,900
a point numbers 1, 4, 5, and 8 in Fig. 5. In the second setup the
Concrete 2.482E10 0.2 2,403
accelerometers are placed at the one side of the footbridge as
point numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 in Fig. 5. Since the intended number from both methods and corresponding damping ratios attained
of measurements was larger than the number of channels and from experimental modal analyses are summarized in Table 2.
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sensors available, measurements are performed in two steps in the It can be seen from the results of experimental modal analyses
third test setup. In the first step, accelerometers are placed at 1, 2, that the lowest vibration frequency of the footbridge deck is in the
5, and 6 points and in the second step accelerometers are placed at range of 1.9– 2.1 Hz, which is the frequency region of normal
3, 4, 7, and 8 points in Fig. 5. The signals in the second setup are human walking 共Bachmann et al. 1995兲.
incorporated using a reference accelerometer located in 9 points.
In the PP method, dynamic characteristics are obtained from
each vibration signal as a singular value. But in the SSI method, Finite-Element Model Updating
dynamic characteristics are obtained from collection of all vibra-
tion signals as a singular values. Modal parameters and stabiliza- It can be seen from Table 2 that there are some differences be-
tion diagrams attained from the vibration signal using the PP and tween results obtained from analytical and experimental modal
SSI techniques are shown in Figs. 6–9. analyses. It is thought that these differences come from some
The first six mode shapes obtained from experimental modal
analyses are given in Fig. 10. It can be seen from Figs. 3 and 10
that there is a good agreement between the mode shapes in ex-
perimental and analytical modal analyses. Identified frequencies
Fig. 6. Modal parameters attained from PP technique Fig. 9. Stabilization diagrams of third setup
1. From the finite-element model of the footbridge, a total of 25 results, and analytical frequencies were larger than those of
natural frequencies were attained analytically, which range the experiments.
between 2.39 and 21.76 Hz. Considering the first six mode 4. To eliminate differences, the finite-element model of the
shapes, these modes can be classified into vertical and tor- footbridge was updated by trial and error of material proper-
sional modes. ties and the maximum difference in the natural frequencies
2. Ambient vibration testing was conducted under natural exci- was reduced from 22 to only 5%.
tation on the footbridge to accurately extract the dynamic 5. After the model updating, there was good agreement between
characteristics using PP and SSI techniques. Good agreement the frequencies and mode shapes obtained from the updated
of identified frequencies was found between PP and SSI model of the footbridge and experimental measurements.
techniques. 6. Dynamic analyses of the footbridge before and after finite-
3. When comparing the analytical and experimental results, it element model updating are performed. It is seen from the
was clearly seen that there were some differences in both analyses that displacements have an increasing trend, but
maximum and minimum principal stresses have a decreasing
trend after finite-element model updating.
5.0
Acceleration (m/s²)
2.5
0.0
-2.5
Max = 4.82 (m/s²)
-5.0
0.0 1.5 3.0 4.5 6.0 7.5 9.0 10.5 12.0
Time (s)
4 4
2 2
Displacement (mm)
Displacement (mm)
0 0
-2 -2
-4 -4
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20
Time (s) Time (s)
a) Before model updating b) After model updating
Fig. 13. Maximum and minimum principal stresses of footbridge
Fig. 12. Time histories of vertical displacement of footbridge deck before finite-element model updating