Vehicle Condition Surveillance on Continuous Bridges Based on Response Sensitivity

Abstract

This paper presents the parameter identification of a vehicle moving on a multispan continuous bridge deck modeled as a continuous beam based on dynamic response sensitivity analysis. This technique is for the monitoring of “road-friendliness” of vehicles using the highway pavement. The moving vehicle is modeled as a single degree-of-freedom system comprising three parameters, a two degrees-of-freedom system comprising five parameters, or a four degrees-of-freedom system comprising 12 parameters. The modified beam functions are used to calculate the response of the continuous bridge. Starting with an initial guess on the unknown parameters, the identification can be realized based on least-squares method and regularization technique from measured strain, velocity, or acceleration measurement from as few as a single sensor. Simulation studies and experimental results indicate that the identified results are acceptable, and the responses reconstructed from the identified parameters agree well with the measured responses.