Dynamic finite element model updating of prestressed concrete continuous box-girder bridge

The dynamic finite element model （FEM） of a prestressed concrete continuous box-girder bridge, called the Tongyang Canal Bridge, is built and updated based on the results of ambient vibration testing （AVT） using a real-coded accelerating genetic algorithm （RAGA）. The objective functions are defined based on natural frequency and modal assurance criterion （MAC） metrics to evaluate the updated FEM. Two objective functions are defined to fully account for the relative errors and standard deviations of the natural frequencies and MAC between the AVT results and the updated FEM predictions. The dynamically updated FEM of the bridge can better represent its structural dynamics and serve as a baseline in long-term health monitoring, condition assessment and damage identification over the service life of the bridge .

Effect of concrete creep on pre-camber of continuous rigid-frame bridge

The effect of concrete creep on the pre-camber of a long-span pre-stressed concrete continuous rigid-frame bridge constructed by cantilever casting method was investigated.The difference of creep coefficients calculated with two Chinese codes was discussed.Based on the calculations,the pre-camber of a pre-stressed concrete continuous rigid-frame box bridge was computed for construction control purpose.The results show that the short-term creep coefficient and long-term creep coefficient calculated with the CC-1985 are larger than those calculated with the CC-2004,while the medium-term creep coefficient calculated with the CC-1985 is smaller than that calculated with the CC-2004.The difference of creep deformation calculated with these two codes is small,and the influences of concrete creep on the pre-camber for most of the segments are negligible.The deflections and stresses of the box girder measured during the construction stages agree very well with the predictions.