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Dynamic Testing on Railway Bridges

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Advances on Testing and Experimentation in Civil Engineering

Part of the book series: Springer Tracts in Civil Engineering ((SPRTRCIENG))

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Abstract

This chapter describes a set of dynamic tests that are frequently performed in railway bridges during their lifecycle, particularly in the construction, reception, and operation phases. Typically, the dynamic testing of railway bridges involves ambient vibration and free vibrations tests, as well as dynamic tests under the passage of traffic loads. In this scope, the typical framework of the dynamic monitoring system is described, particularly in what concerns the sensor types, data acquisition systems (DAQs), communication protocols and data processing. A special emphasis is given to the data processing techniques which are dedicated to each type of dynamic testing. In case of ambient vibration tests a frequency domain method (EFDD—Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition) and a time domain method (SSI—Stochastic Subspace Identification) are detailed. In case of free vibration tests the Logarithm Decrement (LD) and Prony methods are described. For the dynamic test under traffic loads some specific features involving Power Spectrum Density (PSD) functions and train dynamic signatures are used. Additionally, the dynamic tests performed in the Cascalheira bridge, located in the northern line of the Portuguese railway network, are presented as a case study.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the research unit CONSTRUCT (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007457, UID/ECI/04708/2020, FEDER and FCT/MCTES)—Institute of R&D in Structures and Construction, funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI)—and by national funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CONSTRUCT-LESE, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Diogo Ribeiro

  2. Department of Structural Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Cássio Bragança

  3. CONSTRUCT-LESE, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Artur Silva & Rui Calçada

Authors
  1. Diogo Ribeiro
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  2. Cássio Bragança
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  3. Artur Silva
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  4. Rui Calçada
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diogo Ribeiro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CERIS, Department of Civil Engineering, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Carlos Chastre

  2. CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    José Neves

  3. CONSTRUCT-LESE, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Diogo Ribeiro

  4. CERIS, Department of Civil Engineering, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Maria Graça Neves

  5. CERIS, Department of Civil Engineering, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Paulina Faria

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Ribeiro, D., Bragança, C., Silva, A., Calçada, R. (2023). Dynamic Testing on Railway Bridges. In: Chastre, C., Neves, J., Ribeiro, D., Neves, M.G., Faria, P. (eds) Advances on Testing and Experimentation in Civil Engineering. Springer Tracts in Civil Engineering . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23888-8_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23888-8_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-23887-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-23888-8

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