F.E.

modelling of a cable-stayed bridge based on operational modal analysis

Francesco Benedettini1 & Carmelo Gentile2

2

Prof., DISAT, University of LAquila, Italy Associate Prof., Dept. of Structural Engineering., Milan Polytechnic, Italy E-mail: gentile@stru.polimi.it

ABSTRACT The paper summarizes the dynamics-based assessment of a cable-stayed bridge. The outlined investigation included ambient vibration testing, output-only modal identification, finite element modelling and updating of the uncertain structural parameters of the model. The experimental part of the study involved extensive measurement of ambient vibrations induced by traffic and 10 normal modes were identified by using two complementary techniques: the Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition (frequency domain) and the Stochastic Subspace Identification (time domain). Full details on the experimental procedures, instrumentation, data analysis techniques and the dynamic characteristics obtained from output-only modal identification techniques are presented and discussed. In the theoretical study, vibration modes were determined using a 3D finite element model of the bridge and the information obtained from the field tests, combined with a classic system identification technique, provided a linear elastic model, accurately fitting the modal parameters of the bridge in its present condition. 1 INTRODUCTION

Finite element (F.E.) modelling of bridges is now common in the normal design process of new structures or in the assessment of existing structures. With advances in numerical modelling, it is generally expected that F.E. models based on technical design data, as-built drawings and engineering judgement can reliably simulate both the static and dynamic structural behaviour. However, these F.E. models often cannot predict natural frequencies and mode shapes with the required level of accuracy, as a consequence of modelling uncertainties. A possible practice to fill the lack between the real structural performance and F.E. models is to employ experimental modal analysis on bridges in service; peculiarly, ambient vibration testing and operational modal analysis turned out to be especially suitable for flexible systems, such as cable-stayed or suspension bridges since a large number of normal modes can be identified from ambient vibration survey of these bridges. The results of full-scale testing and computer simulation of a cable-stayed bridge are described in the paper. The tested bridge, about 70.0 m long and with inclined non-symmetric towers, was erected in 1997 over the Oglio river (northern Italy). The experimental program of dynamic tests included extensive measurements of ambient vibrations mainly induced by the traffic to determine the dynamic characteristics of the bridge. The research described in the paper involves: 1. identifying the actual dynamic behaviour of the bridge from ambient vibration responses using different output-only procedures in both frequency and time domain, in order to assess the accuracy of ambient vibration survey in view of future monitoring; the two different procedures allowed to identify 10 vibration modes in the frequency range 010 Hz; 2. establishing a 3D F.E. model of the bridge, based on the available design drawings and on the results of a topographic survey, and verifying the main assumptions used in the model through rough comparison of measured and predicted modal parameters; 3. choice of uncertain structural parameters of the model and identification of these parameters in order to enhance the correlation between experimental and theoretical natural frequencies using the technique

described in [1] so that the improved model can be considered as the baseline F.E. model, suitable for long term monitoring of the structure.

Figure 1. Views of the investigated bridge

DESCRIPTION OF THE BRIDGE

The investigated cable-stayed bridge (Figs. 1-2) overpasses the river Oglio between the Municipalities of Bordolano and Quinzano and consists of a composite deck, double-plane cables and two inclined concrete towers. The cross-section of the bridge (Figs. 1-2) consists of 4 steel girders framed by floor beams; girders and floor beams are all composite with a 30.0 cm concrete slab. The steel girders are 95 cm high, with the outer girders (spaced 9.90 m center to center) being of box section while the inner ones are wide flange sections (Figs. 1-2). The girders are framed by floor beams 5.83 m spaced; the floor beams providing the anchorage of the stays are of box section while the other ones are wide flange sections (Figs. 1-2). The total width of the deck is 13.50 m for two traffic lanes and two pedestrian walkways; the suspended span is 70.0 m long. The cast-in-place concrete towers are 35.65 m high and each consists of an inclined, varying width, concrete leg bearing an upper steel device providing the anchorage for the stay cables (Fig. 1). 3 DYNAMIC TESTS AND OPERATIONAL MODAL ANALYSIS

3.1 Experimental procedures The experimental campaign was based on ambient vibration tests. The acquisition system used during the tests has 16 differential channels and it is interfaced to a remote PC and its storage unity by using a parallel port. The

used transducers were Sprengnether servo-accelerometers, operating in the range of frequency 0-25 Hz. These transducers are capable of correctly identifying components of the motion at very low frequencies and were used since in a preliminary F.E. analysis the first computed frequency was around 1.0 Hz. The signal returned by each transducer is locally conditioned by using pre-amplifiers having a variable gain controlled by the remote computer. The signal is transmitted in differential modality to the acquisition system where is again converted in singleended modality to be filtered and passed to the A/D converter before being stored in different formats on the storage unit. The response of the bridge was measured at 18 selected points (Fig. 3): 14 points of the bridge deck and 4 points on the pylons were monitored. Since 10 accelerometers were available during the tests, a series of two set-ups was required to cover all the measurement points in Figure 3, with the two sensors marked in blue in Figure 3 being used for reference measurements.

Figure 2. Elevation, plan and cross-section of the investigated cable-stayed bridge (dimensions in cm)

(a) Set-up 1
Figure 3. Experimental set-ups for the bridge test

(b) Set-up 2

Time series corresponding to 10002500 first natural period of the structure [2] were acquired at a sampling rate of 400 Hz. A low pass filter was applied to the data, being the identification oriented to evaluate the modal properties within the frequency range 010 Hz. The data, originally sampled at 400 Hz, was decimated 10 times; afterwards, the re-sampled time-series were processed in order to estimate the spectral matrix by using the modified periodogram method [3]; according to this approach an average is made over each recorded signal, divided into M frames of 2n samples, where windowing and overlapping is applied. In the present application smoothing is performed by 1024-points Hanning-windowed periodograms that are transformed and averaged with 66.7% overlapping. Since the re-sampled time interval is 0.025 s, the resulting frequency resolution is 1/(10240.025) 0.039 Hz. 3.2 Operational modal analysis The extraction of modal parameters from ambient vibration data was carried out by using two different output-only techniques: the Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition (EFDD) [4] in the frequency domain and the data driven Stochastic Subspace Identification (SSI ) [5]-[6]; these techniques are available in the commercial program ARTeMIS [7]. 3.2 Mode shapes Correlation The two sets of mode shapes resulting from the application of EFDD and SSI techniques were compared using the Modal Assurance Criterion (MAC) [8]. To correlate the results of F.E. analysis and operational modal analysis, in addition to the MAC, the Normalized Modal Difference (NMD) [9] was also used. The NMD is related to the MAC by the following [10]:

NMD( A ,k , B , j ) =

1 MAC( A ,k , B , j ) MAC( A ,k , B , j )

(1)

A,k, B,j. For example, a MAC of 0.950 implies a NMD of 0.2294, meaning that the components of vectors A,k and B,j differ on average of 22.94%. The NMD is much more sensitive to mode shape differences than the MAC and
hence is introduced to better highlight the differences between highly correlated mode shapes. 3.3 Dynamic characteristics of the bridge As it has to be expected, several vibration modes were identified in the frequency range of 010 Hz. The observed modes can be basically arranged as: + 1. vertical bending modes of the deck (V ), generally involving in-phase longitudinal bending of the two towers; 2. vertical torsion modes of the deck (V ), generally involving out-of-phase longitudinal bending of the towers; 3. longitudinal bending modes of the towers (T). The average of normalized singular values (SV) of the spectral matrices of all data sets using the EFDD technique is shown in Figure 4a; Figure 4b shows the stabilization diagram obtained by applying the SSI technique to the data of the first setup, with the measurement points being placed on the deck only (Fig. 3). The natural frequencies of the vertical (bending and torsion) modes of the deck can be easily identified in Figures 4a and 4b. Peculiarly, the SSI technique provides a clear indication of these modes through the alignments of the stable poles in the stabilization diagram (Fig. 4b). By using the EFDD, the average of normalized first SV (Fig. 4a) highlights well-defined local maxima. in addition, the EFDD technique seems to give a better indication about the modes of the tower. However, as it has to be expected, the modes of the towers are better identified by both the techniques using only the time-histories recorded on the towers. Figure 5 shows the measurement-based mode shapes identified using the SSI algorithm. Table 1 summarizes the modal parameters identified by the two complementary EFDD and SSI methods and the mode classification. Specifically, Table 1 compares the corresponding mode shapes and scaled modal vectors obtained from the two

In practice, the NMD is a close estimate of the average difference between the components of the two vectors

different identification procedures through the frequency discrepancy DF = |(fSSIfEFDD)/fSSI| and the MAC. Inspection of the correlation values listed in Table 1 confirms the good agreement between the two methods in terms of natural frequencies. A similar correspondence is generally found also for most mode shapes, except for the torsion modes V1 and + V2 and the bending mode V5 ; for these modes, the SSI method seems to provide a better estimation of the modal deflections, with the identified mode shapes being more regular and smooth. 4 F.E. MODELLING, SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS AND STRUCTURAL IDENTIFICATION

A 3D finite element model of the bridge was created using the commercially available SAP2000 computer program. The model was formulated using the following assumptions: a) four-noded shell elements were used to model the concrete slab and the towers; 3 b) a weight per unit volume of 25.0 kN/m was assumed for the concrete. On the deck slab also an additional weight 3 per unit volume of 3.5 kN/m was considered to account for the effects of the asphalt pavement and walkways;
Table 1. Dynamic characteristics identified from operational modal analysis Mode Identifier V1 V1 + V2 V2 + V3 T1 T2 V3 + V4 + V5
+

fSSI (Hz) 1.057 2.179 2.258 3.990 4.252 5.265 5.408 6.038 6.860 9.331

(%) 1.81 0.68 1.58 0.83 1.19 3.59 1.48 0.89 1.58 3.31

SSI

fEFDD (Hz) 1.058 2.187 2.257 3.983 4.254 5.298 5.498 6.031 6.854 9.437

EFDD
(%) 2.94 0.86 1.87 0.95 1.69 2.93 1.99 1.83 1.71 3.14

DF (%) 0.09 0.37 0.04 0.18 0.05 0.63 1.66 0.12 0.09 1.14

MAC 0.9967 0.9003 0.9963 0.9986 0.9994 0.4448 0.9975 0.7364

a)

b)
State Space Dimension

Figure 4. a) EFDD: Average of normalized Singular Values (SV) of the spectral matrix of all data sets and selected modes; b) SSI: Stabilization diagram (data set 1).

SV [dB]

fSSI = 1.057 Hz

fSSI = 2.179 Hz

fSSI = 2.258 Hz

fSSI = 3.990 Hz

fSSI = 4.252 Hz

fSSI = 5.265 Hz

fSSI = 5.436 Hz

fSSI = 6.038 Hz

fSSI = 6.860 Hz

fSSI = 9.331 Hz

Figure 5. Vibration modes identified from ambient vibration measurements (SSI)

c) the Poisson' s ratio of the concrete was held constant and equal to 0.20; d) the steel stringers and transverse cross-beams of the deck were modelled by two-node 3D beam elements. The 3 modulus of elasticity and the weight per unit volume of the steel were assumed as 205 GPa and 785 kN/m , respectively; e) rigid links were used between the concrete slab and the grid of steel stringers and transverse cross-beams; f) the stays were modelled by 3D truss elements; g) the deck was assumed as fixed on the tower side while the boundary conditions between the abutment and the bearing supports on the opposite side were modelled as pinned supports along each node; h) the boundary conditions between the towers and the foundation were initially assumed as fixed. The model, shown in Figure 6, involves 5187 degrees of freedom. The x, y and z-coordinates represent, respectively, the longitudinal axis along the bridge, the horizontal transversal axis and the vertical axis (Fig. 6). The towers are herein after distinguished using the subscripts 1 and 2; the subscripts refers to the tower placed on the negative and positive side of the y axis in Figure 6, respectively. A preliminary modal analysis was performed to check the similarity between experimental and analytical behavior; in this analysis, the design data suggested for the concrete Youngs modulus of the deck and the towers the base values of 30.0 GPa and 31.3 GPa, respectively. Since the suspended span (and the length of the cables) is relatively short, a linear elastic analysis was carried out without special consideration being given to the load state or deformed geometry of the structure, as it happened in other theoretical and experimental studies in the literature [11]-[13]. The correlation between the dynamic characteristics of the base model and the experimental results is shown in

columns (4)-(6) of Table 2 via the absolute frequency discrepancy, the MAC and the NMD. Table 2 shows a fairly good correlation for all modes with the exception of the modes of the towers; for the tower modes the frequency discrepancy ranges up to about 9%, while it is less than 3% for the vertical modes. A manual tuning of the parameters of the model, including the introduction of rotational springs K1, K2 at the base of each pylon in the x-z plane, clearly provided a significant improvement of the match with the experimental results for the modes of the tower. In the authors opinion, the physical meaning of the rotational flexibility of the basement of towers is, in this case, conceivably related to the ratio between the bending stiffness of the pylons and of the foundation (see Fig. 2) rather than to soil-structure interaction. The correlation between the modified base model and the experimental results is shown in columns (8)-(10) of 8 Table 2 for K1=K2=310 kNm/rad. These results clearly highlight that the model already represents a fairly good approximation of the real structure and could surely be adopted as suitable "starting points" for more refined procedures of structural identification. The experimental modal data were then used to adjust some structural parameters of the base model. Based on previous manual and automatic [14] tuning, it seems that good candidate for the model updating are the following parameters: the Youngs modulus (Ed) and the weight per unit volume (d) of the concrete slab; the Youngs modulus (ET1, ET2) of the two towers; the constant of the rotational springs (K1, K2) of the two towers. In order to assess whether the above parameters would be identifiable from the measured natural frequencies, the base F.E. model was checked through a sensitivity analysis [10], i.e. by computing the sensitivity coefficient as the rate of change of a particular response of the model with respect to a change in a structural parameter.

Figure 6. 3D view of the F.E. model of the bridge Table 2. Correlation between experimental and theoretical (base models) dynamic behaviour Experimental Mode Identifier (1) V1 V1 + V2 V2 + V3 T1 T2 V3 + V4 + V5
+

Base Model K1 = K2 = fFEM (Hz) (3) 1.073 2.215 2.291 3.929 4.240 5.718 5.748 5.997 6.682 9.294 DF (%) (4) 1.51 1.65 1.46 1.53 0.28 8.60 6.29 0.68 2.59 0.40 MAC (5) 0.9967 0.9937 0.9918 0.9953 0.9725 0.9820 0.9752 0.8818 NMD (%) (6) 5.71 7.98 9.11 6.90 16.83 13.54 15.96 36.61

Base Model K1 = K2 = 310 kNm/rad fFEM (Hz) (7) 1.068 2.206 2.290 3.927 4.239 5.327 5.385 5.973 6.681 9.294 DF (%) (8) 1.04 1.24 1.42 1.57 0.31 1.17 0.42 1.08 2.61 0.40 MAC (9) 0.9968 0.9946 0.9921 0.9959 0.9731 0.9873 0.9740 0.8820 NMD (%) (10) 5.65 7.39 8.95 6.45 16.62 11.34 16.34 36.58

fSSI (Hz) (2) 1.057 2.179 2.258 3.990 4.252 5.265 5.408 6.038 6.860 9.331

Since the natural frequencies are assumed as reference responses, the sensitivity coefficients are defined as FEM FEM sik=fi /Xk, where fi (i=1,2,,M) is the i-th natural frequency of the model and Xk (k=1,2,,N) is the k-th FEM FEM parameter to be identified. For example, Figure 7 show the sensitivity coefficients as 100(Xk/fi )(fi /Xk), representing the percentage change in mode frequency per 100% change in the parameter. The inspection of the sensitivity coefficients clearly reveals that: 1. all the vertical (bending and torsion) modes of the deck are highly affected by Ed and d so that these parameters are surely identifiable from the measured natural frequencies (Fig. 7a); 2. the 4 parameters of the towers (ET1, ET2, K1, K2) significantly affects the change of the natural frequencies of 4 modes (V1+, V1, T1 and T2, see Fig. 7b) so that also these parameters are conceivably identifiable. Hence, the inverse problem seems not to be ill-conditioned and the investigated structural parameters are good candidate to be selected as updating parameters in a structural identification approach, The structural parameters were determined by minimising the difference between theoretical and experimental natural frequencies through the procedure proposed by Douglas & Reid [1]; however, after the updating, a complete correlation analysis was carried out between theoretical and experimental modal parameters. The structural identification procedure provided the following estimates of the parameters: 3 a) Ed = 35.91 GPa, d = 26.31 kN/m for the concrete slab; 8 b) ET1 = 30.62 GPa, K1 = 2.7810 kNm/rad for the tower on the negative side of the y axis in Fig. 6; 8 c) ET2 = 31.69 GPa, K2 = 3.0610 kNm/rad for the tower on the positive side of the y axis in Fig. 6. The mode shapes of the optimal (updated) model, corresponding to the experimental ones (Fig. 5), are shown in Figure 8. a)
30 20 10 0 -10 -20 -30 -40 -50
V1+ + V1 V1
+

1d E

2 d

Sensitivity Coefficients (%)

V1- V1 V1

+ V2+ + V2 V2

V2V2 V2

+ V3+ T1 + V3 T1 V3 T1 Mode frequency

T2 T2 T2

V3V3 V3

+ V4+ + V4 V4

+ V5+ + V5 V5

b)
10

3 E T1

4 K 1

5 E T2

6 K 2

Sensitivity Coefficients (%)

8 6 4 2 0

V1+ + V1 V1

V1- V1 V1

+ V2+ + V2 V2

V2- V2 V2

V3++ + T1 V3 T1 V3 T1 Mode frequency

T2 T2 T2

V3- V3 V3

V4++ + V4 V4

V5+ V5+

V5

Figure 7. Sensitivity coefficients

Table 3. Correlation between experimental and theoretical (optimal model) dynamic behaviour Experimental Mode Identifier V1 V1 + V2 V2 + V3 T1 T2 V3 + V4 + V5
+

Optimal Model fFEM (Hz) 1.057 2.209 2.287 3.967 4.248 5.298 5.387 6.051 6.701 9.325 DF (%) 0.00 1.38 1.28 0.58 0.09 0.62 0.40 0.22 2.30 0.06 MAC 0.9971 0.9951 0.9927 0.9962 0.9738 0.9854 0.9715 0.8827 NMD (%) 5.40 7.01 8.59 6.20 16.41 12.17 17.12 36.45

fSSI (Hz) 1.057 2.179 2.258 3.990 4.252 5.265 5.408 6.038 6.860 9.331

fSSI = 1.057 Hz

fFEM = 1.057 Hz

fSSI = 2.179 Hz

fFEM = 2.209 Hz

fSSI = 2.258 Hz

fFEM = 2.287 Hz

fSSI = 3.990 Hz

fFEM = 3.967 Hz

fSSI = 4.252 Hz

fFEM = 4.248 Hz

fSSI = 5.265 Hz

fFEM = 5.298 Hz

fSSI = 5.408 Hz

fFEM = 5.387 Hz

fSSI = 6.038 Hz

fFEM = 6.051 Hz

fSSI = 6.860 Hz

fFEM = 6.701 Hz

fSSI = 9.331 Hz

fFEM = 9.325 Hz

Figure 8. Vibration modes of the updated model

The theoretical characteristics are compared with the experimental results in Table 3. It can be observed that: 1. the maximum relative error between natural frequencies is greater than 1% only for 3 modes (1.38%, 1.28% + + and 2.30% for modes V1 , V2 and V4 , respectively); 2. also the mode shape correlation is improved, with the correspondence between analytical and experimental modes being confirmed by the visual inspection of the mode shapes in Figures 5 and 8.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of the dynamics-based F.E. modelling of a cable-stayed bridge were presented in the paper. The F.E. model development and the correlation with the dynamic characteristics of the bridge allowed the following main conclusions: 1. Within the frequency range 010 Hz, 10 vibration modes were successfully identified using the EFDD and the SSI techniques and a good agreement was generally found between the two methods in terms of both natural frequencies and mode shapes; 2. A 3D F.E. model was developed and showed fairly good correlation with the experimental results (natural frequencies and mode shapes), after some manual tuning and the introduction of proper boundary conditions (rotational springs) at the base of the bridge pylons; 3. The application of sensitivity analysis allowed a good choice of the structural parameters candidate for the model updating also ensuring that the related inverse problem is not ill-conditioned; 4. The application of a simple updating procedure [1] provided a linear elastic model of the bridge, adequately representing the modal behaviour of the structure in its present condition. As a final remark, the identified dynamic characteristics and the baseline F.E. model of the bridge will provided a sound basis for the future monitoring. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The research was supported by M.I.U.R. (under grant Cofin06.) The authors are indebted with Dr. Eng. R. Alaggio for the assistance in conducting the field tests. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] Douglas B.M. and Reid W.H. Dynamic tests and system identification of bridges, J. Structural Div., ASCE, 108(10), 2295-2312, 1982. st Cantieni R. Experimental methods used in system identification of civil engineering structures, Proc. 1 Int. Operational Modal Analysis Conference (IOMAC), Copenaghen, 2005. Welch, P.D. The use of Fast Fourier Transform for the estimation of Power Spectra: a method based on time averaging over short modified periodograms, IEEE Transactions, AU-15, 70-73. 1967. Brincker R., Zhang L.M. and Andersen, P. Modal identification from ambient responses using Frequency th Domain Decomposition, Proc. 18 Int. Modal Analysis Conference (IMAC), San Antonio, 2000. Van Overschee P. and De Moor B. Subspace identification for linear systems: Theory, implementation, applications, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1996. Peeters B. and De Roeck G. Reference-based stochastic subspace identification for output-only modal analysis, Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 6(3), 855-878, 1999. ARTeMIS Extractor 4.0 Program Overview, http://www.svibs.com, 2006. st Allemang R.J. and Brown D.L. Correlation coefficient for modal vector analysis. Proc. 1 Int. Modal Analysis Conf. (IMAC), 110-116, 1983. Waters, T.P. Finite element model updating using measured frequency response functions, Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Bristol, 1995. Maia N.M.M. and Silva J.M.M. (Eds.) Theoretical and experimental modal analysis, Research Studies Press Ltd., 1997. Wilson J.C. and Liu T. Ambient vibration measurements on a cable-stayed bridge, Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics, 20, 723-747, 1991. Brownjohn J.M.W. and Xia P.Q. Dynamic assessment of curved cable-stayed bridge by model updating, J. Structural Engineering, ASCE, 126, 252-260, 2000. Gentile C. and Martinez y Cabrera F. Dynamic performance of twin curved cable-stayed bridges, Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics, 33, 15-34, 2004. Alaggio R., Benedettini F., Caiazzo C. and Gentile C. Correlating the dynamic behaviour of a cable-stayed bridges from ambient vibration testing and F.E. models,Proc. EVACES05, 245-252.