TY - JOUR
T1 - A Comparison of Strain-Based Methods for the Evaluation of the Relative Displacement of Beam-Like Structures
AU - Kliewer, Kaitlyn
AU - Glisic, Branko
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance with this research: Dorotea Sigurdardottir, Dennis Smith, and Joe Vocaturo. The project on the highway overpass has been realized with the important support, great help and kind collaboration of several professionals and companies. We would like to thank SMARTEC SA, Switzerland; Drexel University, in particular Professor Emin Aktan, Professor Frank Moon (now at Rutgers University), and graduate student Jeff Weidner (now Assistant Professor at University of Texas, El Paso); New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), and in particular Nat Kasbekar and Eddy Germain; Long-Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) Program of Federal Highway Administration; PB Americas, Inc., Lawrenceville, NJ, in particular Mr. Michael S Morales, LTBP Site Coordinator; Rutgers University, in particular Professors Ali Maher and Nenad Gucunski; All IBS partners; and Kevin the lift operator. We would also like to thank Yao Yao who helped with the sensor installation. Funding. This material was based upon work supported by NSF GRFP Grant No. 1148900, NSF CMMI-1362723, and USDOT-RITA DTRT12-G-UTC16. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies.
Funding Information:
This material was based upon work supported by NSF GRFP Grant No. 1148900, NSF CMMI-1362723, and USDOT-RITA DTRT12-G-UTC16. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2019 Kliewer and Glisic.
PY - 2019/10/15
Y1 - 2019/10/15
N2 - This research presents an evaluation and comparison of the various strain to displacement transformation methods for a beam-like structure. Displacements can provide useful information for the monitoring and assessment of structural performance, health, and safety. The displacement of a structure is correlated with the curvature of a structure, so any unusual behavior of the structure that alters the curvature will also affect the displacement of the structure. Additionally, monitoring the displacement of a structure is useful for evaluating service limits as excessive displacement are uncomfortable to users and can cause damage to surround structures. Direct displacement monitoring of a real-life structure can be challenging, especially for long-term measurements. Because of this, the focus of this research is on in-direct displacement monitoring based on strain sensors. Several methods to determine displacements from strain measurements have been presented in the literature; this paper provides a quantitative comparison of selected methods using both a static and dynamic analysis, providing the errors of the methods. The methods were applied in a small-scale laboratory test to a beam with fiber Bragg-grating strain sensors, with both static and dynamic loading cases. The experimental displacement results are compared to displacement results from LVDT displacement sensors. Finally, the methods are applied to an existing structure equipped with long-gauge fiber Bragg-grating strain sensors, an in-service highway overpass subjected to vehicle loading. The displacements for the overpass were obtained and compared with the service requirements.
AB - This research presents an evaluation and comparison of the various strain to displacement transformation methods for a beam-like structure. Displacements can provide useful information for the monitoring and assessment of structural performance, health, and safety. The displacement of a structure is correlated with the curvature of a structure, so any unusual behavior of the structure that alters the curvature will also affect the displacement of the structure. Additionally, monitoring the displacement of a structure is useful for evaluating service limits as excessive displacement are uncomfortable to users and can cause damage to surround structures. Direct displacement monitoring of a real-life structure can be challenging, especially for long-term measurements. Because of this, the focus of this research is on in-direct displacement monitoring based on strain sensors. Several methods to determine displacements from strain measurements have been presented in the literature; this paper provides a quantitative comparison of selected methods using both a static and dynamic analysis, providing the errors of the methods. The methods were applied in a small-scale laboratory test to a beam with fiber Bragg-grating strain sensors, with both static and dynamic loading cases. The experimental displacement results are compared to displacement results from LVDT displacement sensors. Finally, the methods are applied to an existing structure equipped with long-gauge fiber Bragg-grating strain sensors, an in-service highway overpass subjected to vehicle loading. The displacements for the overpass were obtained and compared with the service requirements.
KW - beam structures
KW - displacement
KW - fiber Bragg-gratings (FBG)
KW - long-gauge fiber-optic strain sensors
KW - strain
KW - structural health monitoring (SHM)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85102880378&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85102880378&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fbuil.2019.00118
DO - 10.3389/fbuil.2019.00118
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85102880378
SN - 2297-3362
VL - 5
JO - Frontiers in Built Environment
JF - Frontiers in Built Environment
M1 - 118
ER -