Making bridges between preclinical and clinical insights into age-related cognitive decline

With people living longer,the societal impact of age-related cognitive decline is becoming more pronounced(Crimmins,2015).Thus,it is increasingly important to comprehend the cognitive shifts linked to aging-whether they are physiological or pathological.

Theoretical research on structural damage alarming of long-span bridges using wavelet packet analysis

The state equation and observation equation of the structural dynamic systems under various analysis scales are derived based on wavelet packet analysis. The time-frequency properties of structural dynamic response under various scales are further formulated. The theoretical analysis results reveal that the wavelet packet energy spectrum （WPES） obtained from wavelet packet decomposition of structural dynamic response will detect the presence of structural damage. The sensitivity analysis of the WPES to structural damage and measurement noise is also performed. The transfer properties of the structural system matrix and the observation noise under various analysis scales are formulated, which verify the damage alarming reliability using the proposed WPES with preferable damage sensitivity and noise robusticity.

Damage warning of suspension bridges based on neural networks under changing temperature conditions

This paper aims at successive structural damage detection of long-span bridges under changing temperature conditions.First,the frequency-temperature correlation models of bridges are formulated by means of artificial neural network techniques to eliminate the temperature effects on the measured modal frequencies.Then,the measured modal frequencies under various temperatures are normalized to a reference temperature,based on which the auto-associative network is trained to monitor signal damage occurrences by means of neural-network-based novelty detection techniques.The effectiveness of the proposed approach is examined in the Runyang Suspension Bridge using 236-day health monitoring data.The results reveal that the seasonal change of environmental temperature accounts for variations in the measured modal frequencies with averaged variances of 2.0%.And the approach exhibits good capability for detecting the damage-induced 0.1% variance of modal frequencies and it is suitable for online condition monitoring of suspension bridges.

Seismic damage of highway bridges during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

Many highway bridges were severely damaged or completely collapsed during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. A field investigation was carried out in the strongly affected areas and over 320 bridges were examined. Damage to some representative highway bridges is briefly described and a preliminary analysis of the probable causes of the damage is presented in this paper. The most common damage included shear-flexural failure of the pier columns, expansion joint failure, shear key failure, and girder sliding in the transversal or longitudinal directions due to weak connections between girder and bearings. Lessons learned from this earthquake are described and recommendations related to the design of curved and skewed bridges, design of bearings and devices to prevent girder collapse, and ductility of bridge piers are presented. Suggestions for future seismic design and retrofitting techniques for bridges in moderate to severe earthquake areas are also proposed.

Deformation monitoring of long-span railway bridges based on SBAS-InSAR technology

The deformation monitoring of long-span railway bridges is significant to ensure the safety of human life and property.The interferometric synthetic aperture radar(In SAR)technology has the advantage of high accuracy in bridge deformation monitoring.This study monitored the deformation of the Ganjiang Super Bridge based on the small baseline subsets(SBAS)In SAR technology and Sentinel-1A data.We analyzed the deformation results combined with bridge structure,temperature,and riverbed sediment scouring.The results are as follows:(1)The Ganjiang Super Bridge area is stable overall,with deformation rates ranging from-15.6 mm/yr to 10.7 mm/yr(2)The settlement of the Ganjiang Super Bridge deck gradually increases from the bridge tower toward the main span,which conforms to the typical deformation pattern of a cable-stayed bridge.(3)The sediment scouring from the riverbed cause the serious settlement on the bridge’s east side compared with that on the west side.(4)The bridge deformation negatively correlates with temperature,with a faster settlement at a higher temperature and a slow rebound trend at a lower temperature.The study findings can provide scientific data support for the health monitoring of long-span railway bridges.

Damage investigation of girder bridges under the Wenchuan earthquake and corresponding seismic design recommendations

An investigation of girder bridges on National Highway 213 and the Doujiangyan-Wenchuan expressway after the Wenchuan earthquake showed that typical types of damage included： span collapses due to unseating at expansion joints; shear key failure; and damage of the expansion joint due to the slide-induced large relative displacement between the bottom of the girder and the top of the laminated-rubber bearing. This slide, however, can actually act as a form of isolation for the substructure, and as a result, the piers and foundation of most of the bridges on state route 213 suffered minor damage. The exception was the Baihua Bridge, which suffered severe damage. Corresponding seismic design recommendations are presented based on this investigation.

Field survey and analysis on near-fault severely damaged high-speed railway bridge in 2022 M6.9 Menyuan earthquake

The 2022 M6.9 Menyuan earthquake caused severe damage to a high-speed railway bridge,which was designed for high-speed trains running at speeds of above 250 km/h and is located right next to the fault.Bridges of this type have been widely used for rapidly constructing the high-speed railway network,but few bridges have been tested by near-fault devastating earthquakes.The potential severe impact of the earthquake on the high-speed railway is not only the safety of the infrastructure,trains and passengers,but also economic loss due to interrupted railway use.Therefore,a field survey was carried out immediately after the earthquake to collect time-sensitive data.The damage to the bridge was carefully investigated,and quantitative analyses were conducted to better understand the mechanism of the bridge failure.It was found that seismic action perpendicular to the bridge’s longitudinal direction caused severe damage to the girders and rails,while none of the piers showed obvious deformation or cracking.The maximum values of transverse displacement,out-of-plane rotation and twisting angle of girders reached 212.6 cm,3.1 degrees and 19.9 degrees,respectively,causing severe damage to the bearing supports and anti-seismic retaining blocks.These observations provide a basis for improving the seismic design of high-speed railway bridges located in near-fault areas.

Earthquake damage potential and critical scour depth of bridges exposed to flood and seismic hazards under lateral seismic loads

Many bridges located in seismic hazard regions suffer from serious foundation exposure caused by riverbed scour. Loss of surrounding soil significantly reduces the lateral strength of pile foundations. When the scour depth exceeds a critical level, the strength of the foundation is insufficient to withstand the imposed seismic demand, which induces the potential for unacceptable damage to the piles during an earthquake. This paper presents an analytical approach to assess the earthquake damage potential of bridges with foundation exposure and identify the critical scour depth that causes the seismic performance of a bridge to differ from the original design. The approach employs the well-accepted response spectrum analysis method to determine the maximum seismic response of a bridge. The damage potential of a bridge is assessed by comparing the imposed seismic demand with the strengths of the column and the foundation. The versatility of the analytical approach is illustrated with a numerical example and verified by the nonlinear finite element analysis. The analytical approach is also demonstrated to successfully determine the critical scour depth. Results highlight that relatively shallow scour depths can cause foundation damage during an earthquake, even for bridges designed to provide satisfactory seismic performance.

Numerical Simulation-Based Analysis of the Impact of Overloading on Segmentally Assembled Bridges

Segmentally assembled bridges are increasinglyfinding engineering applications in recent years due to their unique advantages,especially as urban viaducts.Vehicle loads are one of the most important variable loads acting on bridge structures.Accordingly,the influence of overloaded vehicles on existing assembled bridge structures is an urgent concern at present.This paper establishes thefinite element model of the segmentally assembled bridge based on ABAQUS software and analyzes the influence of vehicle overload on an assembled girder bridge struc-ture.First,afinite element model corresponding to the target bridge is established based on ABAQUS software,and the load is controlled to simulate vehicle movement in each area of the traveling zone at different times.Sec-ond,the key cross-sections of segmental girder bridges are monitored in real time based on the force character-istics of continuous girder bridges,and they are compared with the simulation results.Finally,a material damage ontology model is introduced,and the structural damage caused by different overloading rates is compared and analyzed.Results show that thefinite element modeling method is accurate by comparing with on-site measured data,and it is suitable for the numerical simulation of segmental girder bridges;Dynamic sensors installed at 1/4L,1/2L,and 3/4L of the segmental girder main beams could be used to identify the dynamic response of segmental girder bridges;The bottom plate of the segmental girder bridge is mostly damaged at the position where the length of the precast beam section changes and the midspan position.With the increase in load,damage in the direction of the bridge develops faster than that in the direction of the transverse bridge.Thefindings of this study can guide maintenance departments in the management and maintenance of bridges and vehicles.

Dynamic Response Impact of Vehicle Braking on Simply Supported Beam Bridges with Corrugated Steel Webs Based on Vehicle-Bridge Coupled Vibration Analysis

A novel approach for analyzing coupled vibrations between vehicles and bridges is presented,taking into account spatiotemporal effects and mechanical phenomena resulting fromvehicle braking.Efficient modeling and solution of bridge vibrations induced by vehicle deceleration are realized using this method.The method’s validity and reliability are substantiated through numerical examples.A simply supported beam bridge with a corrugated steel web is taken as an example and the effects of parameters such as the initial vehicle speed,braking acceleration,braking location,and road surface roughness on the mid-span displacement and impact factor of the bridge are analyzed.The results show that vehicle braking significantly amplifies mid-span displacement and impact factor responses in comparison to uniform vehicular motion across the bridge.Notably,the influence of wheelto-bridge friction forces is of particular significance and cannot be overlooked.When the vehicle initiates braking near the middle of the span,both the mid-span displacement and impact factor of the bridge exhibit substantial increases,further escalating with higher braking acceleration.Under favorable road surface conditions,the midspan displacement and the impact factor during vehicle braking may exceed the design values stipulated by codes.It is important to note that road surface roughness exerts a more pronounced effect on the impact factor of the bridge in comparison to the effects of vehicle braking.

Recent Construction Technology Innovations and Practices for Large-Span Arch Bridges in China

Arch bridges provide significant technical and economic benefits under suitable conditions.In particular,concrete-filled steel tubular(CFST)arch bridges and steel-reinforced concrete(SRC)arch bridges are two types of arch bridges that have gained great economic competitiveness and span growth potential due to advancements in construction technology,engineering materials,and construction equipment over the past 30 years.Under the leadership of the author,two record-breaking arch bridges—that is,the Pingnan Third Bridge(a CFST arch bridge),with a span of 560 m,and the Tian’e Longtan Bridge(an SRC arch bridge),with a span of 600 m—have been built in the past five years,embodying great technological breakthroughs in the construction of these two types of arch bridges.This paper takes these two arch bridges as examples to systematically summarize the latest technological innovations and practices in the construction of CFST arch bridges and SRC arch bridges in China.The technological innovations of CFST arch bridges include cable-stayed fastening-hanging cantilevered assembly methods,new in-tube concrete materials,in-tube concrete pouring techniques,a novel thrust abutment foundation for nonrocky terrain,and measures to reduce the quantity of temporary facilities.The technological innovations of SRC arch bridges involve arch skeleton stiffness selection,the development of encasing concrete materials,encasing concrete pouring,arch rib stress mitigation,and longitudinal reinforcement optimization.To conclude,future research focuses and development directions for these two types of arch bridges are proposed.

PTEN bridges protective autophagy and apoptosis induced by DNA damage mediated by reactive oxygen species(ROS)in response to cucurbitacin B in hepatocellular carcinoma cells

OBJECTIVE Reactive oxygen species(ROS)mediated both apoptosis and protective autophagy in response to natural products while the detailed mechanisms remain unclear.Cucurbitacin B(Cuc B),a natural tetracyclic triterpene,induced both protective autophagy and apoptosis mediated by ROS.This study was designed to explore the mechanism of Cuc B-induced apoptosis and autophagy in hepatocellular carcinoma BEL-7402cells.METHODS AND RESULTS Cuc B decreased cell viability in concentration-and time-dependent manners.Cuc B caused long comet tails and increased expression ofγHA2X,phosphorylation of ATM/ATR,and Chk1/Chk2.This DNA damage response was inhibited by KU55933 and caffeine.Cuc B induced autophagy as evidenced by monodansylcadaverine(MDC)staining,increased expression of LC3Ⅱ,phosphorylated ULK1and decreased expression of phosphorylated AKT,mT OR.Cuc B induced apoptosis mediated by Bcl-2 family proteins and caspase activation.Furthermore,Cuc B induced ROS formation,which was inhibited by N-acetylL-cysteine(NAC).NAC pretreatment dramatical y reversed Cuc B-induced DNA damage,autophagy,and apoptosis.Cuc B-induced apoptosis was reversed by NAC but enhanced by 3-methyladenine(3-MA),chloroquine(CQ),and silencing phosphatase and tensin homolog(PTEN).3-MA and CQ showed no effect on Cuc B-induced DNA damage.In addition,Cuc B increased PTEN phosphorylation.Silence PTEN restored Cuc B-induced autophagic protein expressions without affecting DNA damage.CONCLUSION Cuc B induced DNA damage,apoptosis and protective autophagy mediated by ROS.PTEN activation in response to DNA damage bridged apoptosis and pro-survival autophagy.These observations provide insights for better understanding the crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy.

Influence of pier height on the safety of trains running on high-speed railway bridges during earthquakes

Sudden earthquakes pose a threat to the running safety of trains on high-speed railway bridges,and the stiffness of piers is one of the factors affecting the dynamic response of train-track-bridge system.In this paper,a experiment of a train running on a high-speed railway bridge is performed based on a dynamic experiment system,and the corresponding numerical model is established.The reliability of the numerical model is verified by experiments.Then,the experiment and numerical data are analyzed to reveal the pier height effects on the running safety of trains on bridges.The results show that when the pier height changes,the frequency of the bridge below the 30 m pier height changes greater;the increase of pier height causes the transverse fundamental frequency of the bridge close to that of the train,and the shaking angle and lateral displacement of the train are the largest for bridge with 50 m pier,which increases the risk of derailment;with the pier height increases from 8 m to 50 m,the derailment coefficient obtained by numerical simulations increases by 75% on average,and the spectral intensity obtained by experiments increases by 120% on average,two indicators exhibit logarithmic variation.

Seismic fragility analysis of three-tower cable-stayed bridges with different connection configurations

Seismic fragility analysis of three-tower cable-stayed bridges with three different structural systems,including rigid system(RS),floating system(FS),and passive energy dissipation system(PEDS),is conducted to study the effects of connection configurations on seismic responses and fragilities.Finite element models of bridges are established using OpenSees.A new ground motion screening method based on the statistical characteristic of the predominant period is proposed to avoid irregular behavior in the selection process of ground motions,and incremental dynamic analysis(IDA)is performed to develop components and systems fragility curves.The effects of damper failure on calculated results for PEDS are examined in terms of seismic response and fragility analysis.The results show that the bridge tower is the most affected component by different structural systems.For RS,the fragility of the middle tower is significantly higher than other components,and the bridge failure starts from the middle tower,exhibiting a characteristic of local failure.For FS and PEDS,the fragility of the edge tower is higher than the middle tower.The system fragility of RS is higher than FS and PEDS.Taking the failure of dampers into account is necessary to obtain reliable seismic capacity of cable-stayed bridges.

Fatigue damage analysis of epoxy asphalt pavement for steel bridges considering coupled effects of heavy load and temperature variations

To investigate the fatigue damage of epoxy asphalt pavement(EAP)under a heavy load and a d temperature load,the load-figure of the heavy load on the steel bridge deck pavement(SBDP)was simulated first,and the temperature distribution of SBDP during the temperature-fall period in winter was also calculated.Secondly,t e moving heavy load coupled W t the most unfavorable temperatre load was applied to the SBDP,and the tensile stress on the top of SBDP was calculated.Finally,the fatigue damage of EAP was evaluated considering the extreme situation of heavily overloaded and severe environments.The results show that botte heavy load and the temperature load during t e temperature-fall period c n increase the tensile stress on the top of SBDP significantly.In the exteme situation of heavily overloaded and severe environments,a fatigue crack is easily generated,and thus the SBDP should avoid t e coupling effects of the heavy loadand the temperature load in winter.

Noise reduction mechanism of high-speed railway box-girder bridges installed with MTMDs on top plate

The issue of low-frequency structural noise radiated from high-speed railway(HSR) box-girder bridges(BGBs) is a significant challenge worldwide. Although it is known that vibrations in BGBs caused by moving trains can be reduced by installing multiple tuned mass dampers(MTMDs) on the top plate, there is limited research on the noise reduction achieved by this method. This study aims to investigate the noise reduction mechanism of BGBs installed with MTMDs on the top plate. A sound radiation prediction model for the BGB installed with MTMDs is developed, based on the vehicle–track–bridge coupled dynamics and acoustics boundary element method. After being verified by field tested results, the prediction model is employed to study the reduction of vibration and noise of BGBs caused by the MTMDs. It is found that installing MTMDs on top plate can significantly affect the vibration distribution and sound radiation law of BGBs. However, its impact on the sound radiation caused by vibrations dominated by the global modes of BGBs is minimal. The noise reduction achieved by MTMDs is mainly through changing the acoustic radiation contributions of each plate of the bridge. In the lower frequency range, the noise reduction of BGB caused by MTMDs can be more effective if the installation of MTMDs can modify the vibration frequency and distribution of the BGB to avoid the influence of small vibrations and disperse the sound radiation from each plate.

An Rapid Assessment Method for Bearing Capacity of RC Girder Bridges Based on Residual Strain

In order to realize the in-situ evaluation of reinforced concrete bridges subjected to fatigue for a long time or after earthquake, an evaluation method for cumulative damage of concrete structures based on unloading elastic modulus was proposed. First, according to the concrete stress-strain curve and the statistical relationship between residual strain and cumulative strain, the calculation method of static equivalent strain and residual strain concrete based on unloading elastic modulus and the method for estimating the strength of concrete after damage were proposed. The detailed steps of field test and analysis and the practical damage indicators of residual strain were given. Then, the evaluation method of existing stress and strain of Reinforced Concrete Bridge under dead load and the concept of “equivalent dead load bending moment” were put forward. On this basis, the paper analyzed the root cause of the decrease of bearing capacity of Reinforced Concrete Bridge after fatigue damage, and pointed out that the equivalent strain or residual strain of reinforced concrete increases under the fatigue effect, which led to the decreasing of actual live moment and deformation performance while the ultimate load-carrying capacity remained constant or very little decrease. The evaluation method of structure residual capacity was given, and through comparative analysis of eight T reinforced concrete beams that had been in service for 35 years with the static failure tests, the effectiveness of the method was verified.

A discussion about the limitations of the Eurocode’s high-speed load model for railway bridges

High-speed railway bridges are subjected to normative limitations concerning maximum permissible deck accelerations.For the design of these structures,the European norm EN 1991-2 introduces the high-speed load model(HSLM)—a set of point loads intended to include the effects of existing high-speed trains.Yet,the evolution of current trains and the recent development of new load models motivate a discussion regarding the limits of validity of the HSLM.For this study,a large number of randomly generated load models of articulated,conventional,and regular trains are tested and compared with the envelope of HSLM effects.For each type of train,two sets of 100,000 load models are considered:one abiding by the limits of the EN 1991-2 and another considering wider limits.This comparison is achieved using both a bridge-independent metric(train signatures)and dynamic analyses on a case study bridge(the Canelas bridge of the Portuguese Railway Network).For the latter,a methodology to decrease the computational cost of moving loads analysis is introduced.Results show that some theoretical load models constructed within the stipulated limits of the norm can lead to effects not covered by the HSLM.This is especially noted in conventional trains,where there is a relation with larger distances between centres of adjacent vehicle bogies.

Random Differential Settlement Effects on Reliability of Existing Bridges

This paper investigates the impact of differential foundation settlement on the reliability of bridge superstructure based on loads and resistances statistical properties in Missouri State.Maximum deterministic differential settlement is often used in current AASHTO LRFD(load and resistance factored design)specification.However,the expected foundation settlement is quite different from the actual settlement due to the soil’s large variability.Therefore,it makes sense to consider settlement as a random variable.In this paper,a lognormal distribution with coefficient of variation of 0.25 of random settlement is considered in reliability analysis based on limited previous studies.Dead and live loads are modeled as random variables with normal and Gumbel Type I distributions,respectively.Considering the regional traffic condition on Missouri roadways,the live load effect on existing bridges based on weight-in-motion data is also investigated.The calibrated resistance statistical properties such as bias and COV(coefficient of variance)are used for reliability analysis.Total 14 existing bridges based on Strength I Limit State are analyzed.Since no differential settlement is considered in the past designed bridges in Missouri,small differential settlement can significantly reduce the reliability indices of the superstructure,depending upon the span length and rigidity of the girder.The analysis results also show that the reliability of existing steel-girder bridges is consistently higher than prestressed concrete and solid slab bridges;the shorter and stiffer the spans,the more significant the settlement’s effect on the reliability of bridge superstructures;As the span length ratio becomes less than 0.75,the girder and solid slab bridges’reliability drops significantly at small settlements.

Damage identification of steel truss bridges based on deep belief network

To improve the accuracy and anti-noise ability of the structural damage identification method,a bridge damage identification method is proposed based on a deep belief network(DBN).The output vector is used to establish the nonlinear mapping relationship between the mode shape and structural damage.The hidden layer of the DBN is trained through a layer-by-layer pre-training.Finally,the backpropagation algorithm is used to fine-tune the entire network.The method is validated using a numerical model of a steel truss bridge.The results show that under the influence of noise and modeling uncertainty,the damage identification method based on the DBN can identify the accurate damage location and degree identification compared with the traditional damage identification method based on an artificial neural network.