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Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
| REPORT |
| This report is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information |
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| Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-21-011 Date: January 2021 |
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-21-011 Date: January 2021 |
PDF Version (7.13 MB)
Load rating, whereby the capacity of individual members is compared to dead-load and live-load demands, is one of the most common methodologies for evaluating the load-carrying performance of a bridge. This report provides methods for integrating both nondestructive evaluation data and field data from structural health monitoring to improve the accuracy and reliability of load ratings.
Cheryl Allen Richter, P.E., Ph.D.
Director, Office of Infrastructure
Research and Development
Notice
This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document.
The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers' names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document.
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Technical Report Documentation Page
| 1. Report No.
FHWA-HRT-21-011 |
2. Government Accession No. | 3. Recipient's Catalog No. | ||
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| 4. Title and Subtitle
Improved Infrastructure Assessment through the Integration of Nondestructive Evaluation and Structural Health Monitoring Paradigms |
5. Report Date
January 2021 |
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| 6. Performing Organization Code 1YX01 |
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| 7. Author(s)
Franklin Moon (ORCID: 0000-0003-3180-9120), John Braley(ORCID: 0000-0003-2058-3082), and Nenad Gucunski(ORCID: 0000-0003-3487-2782) |
8. Performing Organization Report No. | |||
| 9. Performing Organization Name and Address
Engineering & Software Consultants, Inc.
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey |
10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) | |||
| 11. Contract or Grant No.
DTFH61-14-D-00011 |
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| 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address
Office of Infrastructure Research and Development |
13. Type of Report and Period Covered
Final Report; March 2019–June 2020 |
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| 14. Sponsoring Agency Code
HRDI-20 |
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| 15. Supplementary Notes
The Contracting Officer's Representative was Hoda Azari (HRDI-20; ORCID: 0000-0002-7340-0035). |
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| 16. Abstract
This report provides recommendations for integrating both nondestructive evaluation (NDE) data and field datafrom structural health monitoring (SHM) to obtain load ratings that reliably represent a bridge's load-carryingperformance. Modern NDE techniques, which provide accurate location and characterization of deteriorations,enable more reliable estimates of capacity. The existing LRFD Bridge Design Specifications provide detailedequations for determining the capacity of a given bridge member (AASHTO 2017). The dimensions or materialproperties used in these equations should be revised based on NDE results. Several common deterioration types areshown through analytical studies to have minor effects on the capacity of composite girder sections.Demand estimates require structural analysis to translate globally applied loads to their corresponding memberactions or force effects. The effects of local deterioration and defects on member demands were investigatedthrough finite-element (FE) simulation and were shown to have negligible effect (<3 percent). However, an in situstructure may behave very differently than predicted by demand models. Field data from SHM may be leveragedto reduce the uncertainty associated with those demand models. The use of experimental distribution factors(introduced in this report) is shown to more reliably estimate demands compared to the methods provided by theManual for Bridge Evaluation for incorporating results from diagnostic and proof-level load tests (AASHTO2018). However, it is recommended that refined analysis with FE models be used when practical, as this methodpermits explicit consideration of all influential mechanisms. |
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| 17. Key Words
NDE, nondestructive evaluation, SHM, structuralhealth monitoring, load rating, refined analysis,field data, diagnostic testing, proof testing, loadtesting |
18. Distribution Statement
No restrictions. This document is available through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. |
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| 19. Security Classification (of this report) Unclassified |
20. Security Classification (of this page) Unclassified |
21. No. of Pages
115 |
22. Price
N/A |
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| Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) | Reproduction of completed page authorized |
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