Yonjung High-Speed Railway Bridge Assessment Using Output-Only Structural Health Monitoring Measurements under Train Speed Changing

Abstract

Yonjung Bridge is a hybrid multispan bridge that is designed to transport high-speed trains (HEMU-430X) with maximum operating speed of 430 km/h. The bridge consists of simply supported prestressed concrete (PSC) and composite steel girders to carry double railway tracks. The structural health monitoring system (SHM) is designed and installed to investigate and assess the performance of the bridge in terms of acceleration and deformation measurements under different speeds of the passing train. The SHM measurements are investigated in both time and frequency domains; in addition, several identification models are examined to assess the performance of the bridge. The drawn conclusions show that the maximum deflection and acceleration of the bridge are within the design limits that are specified by the Korean and European codes. The parameters evaluation of the model identification depicts the quasistatic and dynamic deformations of PSC and steel girders to be different and less correlated when higher speeds of the passing trains are considered. Finally, the variation of the frequency content of the dynamic deformations of the girders is negligible when high speeds are considered.