Dynamic Measurements

1. Introduction

Dynamic measurements are measurements of quantities with time-dependent values using

measuring instruments that are mathematically. which can be measured by different types of
testing such as

● Forced / Free vibration test.

● Ambient vibration tests.

These are two different ways to measure the vibration on the bridge due to the dynamic load that
could be applied. Bridge monitoring systems require reliable data as a base for their effective
operation and their usefulness in the process of structure condition assessment. Lack of the data or
data buried in noise makes each, even the most sophisticated, system ineffective. In bridge
monitoring systems data are collected either by permanently installed measuring systems or by
systematically performed tests.

In this paper, recent research trends are reviewed for the SHM of civil infrastructures. The periodic
assessment and findings acquired by previous researchers highlight the advantages and limits of
the methods. As a result, awareness of the techniques can be improved. To increase knowledge of
this issue, this paper was written to provide a reasonably wide literature and background review of
bridge dynamic characteristics in vibration-based SHM. This paper focuses on determination of
dynamic characteristics using dynamic testing methods, which include forced and ambient
vibration tests.

2. Dynamic Testing
Full-scale dynamic testing of structures can provide significant information on structure service
behavior and performance. With increased interest in the structural health of highway bridges,
dynamic testing may be utilized to determine the bridge service state. Various testing methods and
algorithms have been adopted from mechanical engineering, where dynamic phenomena and
experimental modal analysis have been previously studied. Modal parameters (natural frequencies,
mode shapes) can be obtained from the observed dynamic response caused by ambient, forced, or
free excitation (Fig. 1). Analysis of available techniques should be carried out before selecting an
appropriate testing method in terms of its applicability to a bridge monitoring system.

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Figure (1): Illustration of the excitation instrument based on the characterization of the dynamic test

The main criterion of this systematic dynamic test of bridge monitoring is the method of structure
excitation. The degree of control over the input excitation is the basis for the type of categorization.
The dynamic testing method in which the excitation is artificially induced is categorized under
forced vibration testing (FVT). The forced vibration test is also known as a test with controlled
input but is not measured. Methods, where the input excitation is not controlled, are classified as
ambient vibration tests. The type of excitation devices and instrumentation used depends on the
size of the structures to be tested. The advantages and disadvantages of the chosen testing
techniques (Table 1), as well as the range of their application in bridge monitoring in terms of
testing equipment, data processing, and analyzing dynamic parameters, are explained in this
section and demonstrated by instances of practical application.

 
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Table (1): Summarization of the advantages and limitations of the force vibration test

2.1 Forced Vibration Test (FVT):

Several studies have investigated the use of FVT and experimental modal analysis to identify
damage to existing civil structures. This technique uses input excitation with known force levels
at defined frequencies. Thus, the experimentalist has control over the input. Forced vibration tests
offer the benefit of reducing extraneous noise effects in the observed structural response. The input
loading can be changed to meet the test requirements. The bridge's vibrations can be excited by an
impulse hammer (Fig. 2a), eccentric rotating mass vibrators (Fig. 2b), or an impulsive shaker
(Fig. 2c). The excitation technique is heavily influenced by the bridge's strength and the desired
intensity of excitation.

Figure (2): Forced vibration test excitation technique

 
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An impulse hammer similar to those now used in mechanical engineering can be used to produce
excitations in small- and medium-sized structures. This technique has the benefit of giving a wide-
band input that may trigger many vibration patterns and is the most straightforward approach to
excite the structure. In Maguire and Severn (1987), a 5.4-kg instrumented sledge hammer was
introduced to test four 40-tonne bridge beams. The hammer's maximal impact force was estimated
to be 22 kN. In this study, hammer testing is said to be a rapid and accurate way of determining
the as-built structural dynamic characteristics. The mass of the impact hammer must increase as
the bridge size increases. However, with higher impact masses, the impact hammer probably risks
local damage at the site of structural contact when high force levels are applied. In a study by
Bayraktar, a steel footbridge was subjected to FVT using an impact hammer to excite the bridge
with low-amplitude wide-band excitations (Bayraktar & Şahin, 2014). This study indicates that
the use of an impact hammer as excitation for FVT generated the best results for short bridges with
spans < 30 m.

Instead of using an impact hammer for excitation, an eccentric mass vibrator is one of the earliest
contacting vibrators for FVT and has been used for several years (Jeary & Sparks, 1977). The input
loading, such as loading from an eccentric mass vibrator, can be changed to meet the requirements
of the test. Vibrator machines may be a suitable solution for small- to medium-sized structures
such as slabs or footbridges. These machines create vibratory forces by employing a rotating shaft
with a mass whose centre of mass is moved from the shaft's centre of rotation. The force can be
generated by either a circular or a rectilinear motion. In practice, eccentric mass shakers have rarely
been used to apply loads in the vertical direction. The vibrator machine can be operated at various
frequencies by adjusting the rotational speed of the shaft. To obtain good results, adequate shaft
speed control is required. Additionally, Zwolski & Bien used the inverter powers of the rotating
eccentric mass exciter to enable excellent control of the rotational speed and excitation frequency
(Zwolski & Bień, 2011). The rotating eccentric mass (REM) exciter frequency can be controlled
with a resolution of 0.006 Hz, depending on the type of inverter used. Other forced vibration tests
conducted at the Bosporus suspension bridge were only partially successful since the exciters were
unable to produce sufficient force at frequencies lower than 1 Hz, which is the frequency range of
interest for suspension bridges (< 1 Hz) (Brownjohn et al., 2014). In short, eccentric mass shakers

 
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are not suitable for the large bridge structures such as suspensions and cable-stayed bridges where
they require excitation from heavy excitation equipment.

Consequently, servo-hydraulic shakers are presented as a solution since it can deliver wide-band
stimulation over most frequency ranges of preference. For the purpose of verifying design
assumptions, a long wooden footbridge was excited by a servo-hydraulic vibrator with a peak
pressure amplitude of + 5 kN at frequencies > 2.3 Hz (Gentile & Saisi, 2011). In general, servo-
hydraulic shakers can produce larger force levels but struggle to produce excitations at frequencies
exceeding 100 Hz. Nevertheless, electrodynamic shakers struggle to create force at lower levels
and have difficulties with lower frequency excitations. An electrodynamic shaker was used to
execute a dynamic assessment on a steel bridge in Virginia, USA (Chang et al., 2001). For this
reason, only the first two modes of vibration were detected; higher modes with inherent
frequencies above 7.5 Hz are immune to excitations caused by pedestrian traffic. Shakers of every
variety necessitate extensive support structures, including cooling systems, control hardware, and
power supplies that are usually expensive and hard to relocate. Accordingly, Table 1 illustrates the
advantages and disadvantages of FVT.

2.2 Ambient Vibration Tests (AVT):

Other techniques for MI have been developed by utilizing natural excitation from natural resources
such as wind, waves, car or pedestrian activity, or any other service loading, particularly for large
structural bridge applications. Since the equipment for forced excitation becomes extremely heavy
and expensive to excite large bridge structures, ambient excitation eliminates the need for
mechanical excitation devices. Gentile and Saisi used an ambient vibration-based approach to
examine the structural status and damage scenario of the historic masonry bell tower, which is
located next to the Cathedral of Monza (a town about 20 kms from Milan, Italy). The dynamic-
based evaluation includes both theoretical and experimental modal analysis (Gentile &
Saisi, 2007). For the experimental testing setup, the type and characteristics of the equipment
employed have a significant impact on the effectiveness of ambient vibration measurements. A
suitable selection of accelerometers and digitizers is crucial from this perspective. The type of
sensor to use, such as a strain gauge, accelerometer, thermometer, or data acquisition system,
should be determined by the purpose of the test; these tests include characterizing physical and
chemical parameters of materials, such as temperature, cracks, humidity, pH value, and corrosion,
 
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and mechanical parameters, such as ambient temperature, wind, load condition, static and dynamic
characteristics (Pardi & Thogersen, 2002). The installation of the sensor type is influenced by the
monitoring objective, cost constraints, and structural characteristics, as illustrated in Table 2.

Table (2): Sensor type based on physical quantities

Sensor types such as seismometers and accelerometers have been employed in most previous
studies on the full scale of ambient vibration techniques. The following criteria must be satisfied
by the accelerometers: (i) frequency bandwidth DC—50 Hz; (ii) extremely low peak-to-peak noise
(if practicable, less than 2 micro-g); (iii) high sensitivity (at least 1 V/g); and (iv) low full-scale
range (+ /0.5 g, lower or configurable) (Cunha et al., 2012). Eighteen uniaxial piezoelectric
accelerometers with a 10 V/g sensitivity and a ± 0.5 g peak were used to determine the dynamic
characteristics, such as natural frequencies, mode shapes, and damping ratios, of the Paderno iron
arch bridge (Gentile & Saisi, 2011). The most significant mode shapes and associated natural
frequencies were determined in the frequency range from 0–10 Hz and were successfully drawn
from the study. In another study (Chang et al., 2001), ambient vibration testing (AVT) on a long-
span cable bridge in Hong Kong was conducted in March 1997 after the surfacing paving work on
the bridge deck. Nineteen accelerometers, 1 anemometer, a 24-channel data acquisition system,
and triaxial signal cables were used for the measurements. This means that a typical ambient or
free vibration bridge testing system usually consists of the following: (i) a set of sensors, typically
accelerometers and seismometers; (ii) a data acquisition system (an analogue to digital converter)
capable of digitizing the analogue signal; and (iii) one computer coordinating the data, as
illustrated in Fig. 3

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Figure(3): Ambient vibration test system

These tests involve measuring the structural response under ambient excitation with one or more
stationary reference sensors and a collection of roaming sensors at various measurement sites along
the structure in different setups. The number of points utilized is determined by the spatial
resolution required to accurately characterize the form of the most significant modes of vibration
(based on preliminary FE modelling), while the reference points must be sufficiently far from the
corresponding nodal points.

However, in some situations, a significant number of measurement locations are necessary, or

access to these places is restricted, as may be the case when dealing with the indirect evaluation of
cable forces in cable-stayed bridges or cable constructions. In this case, the employment of
noncontact measuring equipment may be of high interest. A noncontact system is a measurement
with absolutely no contact or probing. It is normally used for high sampling rates and measuring
soft, deformable, and sensitive work pieces. Compared to contact mechanical devices, noncontact
equipment is used especially when dealing with dozens of features or multiple axes, where it can
measure more points, patterns, and axes in a single setup with less time taken. Noncontact systems
are primarily based on laser technology, radar technology, Global Positioning System (GPS)
technology, video technology, and digital photographs(EnChen & Petro, 1999; Green &
Cebon, 1993a; Jo et al., 2011; Lee et al., 2017). However, some previous studies have found that
the combination of these technologies could enhance the performance of measurement systems
(Lee et al., 2017).

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In conclusion, the benefits and drawbacks of AVT are summarized in Table 3 based on the
literature study carried out for this paper. It was more practical to conduct the AVT than the FVT
since it could be performed throughout traffic operations, required no costly excitation equipment,
yielded reliable data, and had a lower total cost of experimental work.

Table (3): Summarization of the advantages and limitations of the ambient vibration testing

3. Conclusion:
There have been a large number of studies of vibration-based systems over the last several decades.
This state-of-the-art review paper has focused on dynamic testing techniques, MI algorithms to
analyze the measured data, damage detection, and an evaluation of the load-carrying capacity
based on vibration SHM. Based on a review of previous work, the following findings can be made,
and the following weaknesses can be identified to further improve the SHM system for supporting
long-term maintenance and rehabilitation decision-making in the field of highway bridges:

1) AVT is the simplest of the two types of dynamic testing since the structural response may be
monitored while the structure is still in use, and artificial excitation systems, which can be
complicated and expensive, are not necessary. The method has the drawback that some of the
predicted dynamic parameters, particularly damping, may be incorrect because their values are
dependent on the (uncontrolled) unknown excitation level.
2) FVT offers more accurate MI findings than AVT since the MI method uses well-defined and
known input excitations, which can be adjusted to improve the response of the vibration modes of
interest. However, this method is not suitable for use in large flexible civil structures, where
extremely heavy and expensive equipment is required.

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