Analytical, numerical, and experimental determination of dynamic characteristics of prestressed concrete girders

Abstract

To determine the dynamic characteristics of bridges with prestressed girders, their natural frequencies and mode shapes used to construct the superstructure must be known. However, there is no agreement among scientists on how prestress force affects the dynamic characteristics of a precast prestressed girder. The purpose of this paper is to obtain the dynamic characteristics of prestressed concrete girders through analytically, numerically, and operational modal testing. For this purpose, one of a typical precast I-girder with 1.2 m height and 27.45 m effective span length is selected as a numerical application. The three-dimensional (3D) finite element model (FEM) of the girder is modeled by SAP2000. Experimental measurements of the girder were conducted at the construction site by the operational modal testing method. For experimental measurements, ten uniaxial seismic accelerometers were mounted at the top flange of the PSC girder in the x- and z-direction. The vibrations that occur from the movement of trucks and cranes at the construction site and the impact of the hammer were measured by these accelerometers as acceleration. The measured signal was collected at the data bank and then sent to the computer equipped with Operational Modal Analysis software which used Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition and Stochastic Subspace Identification techniques. The dynamic behaviors of girder were derived from analysis performed by this software. At the end of the study, the dynamic characteristic was obtained by the analytical prediction, numerical and experimental were compared with each other. It is seen that natural frequencies and mode shapes obtained from theoretical prediction, numerical and operational modal testing are not too far apart.