Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
1-2014
Abstract
A study on the thermal performance of the Tamar Suspension Bridge deck in Plymouth, UK, is presented in this paper. Ambient air, suspension cable, deck and truss temperatures were acquired using a wired sensor system. Deck extension data were acquired using a two-hop wireless sensor network. Empirical models relating the deck extension to various combinations of temperatures were derived and compared. The most accurate model, which used all the four temperature variables, predicted the deck extension with an accuracy of 99.4%. Time delays ranging from 10 to 66 min were identified between the daily cycles of the air temperature and of the structural temperatures and deck extension. However, accounting for these delays in the temperature–extension models did not improve the models' prediction accuracy. The results of this study suggest that bridge design recommendations are based on overly simplistic assumptions which could result in significant errors in the estimated deck movement, especially for temperature extremes. These findings aim to help engineers better understand the important aspect of thermal performance of steel bridges. This paper also presents a concise study on the effective use of off-the-shelf wireless technology to support structural health monitoring of bridges.
Keywords
monitoring, structural design, suspension bridges, thermal effects, structural health monitoring, wireless sensor network
Discipline
Computer and Systems Architecture | Computer Engineering | Software Engineering
Research Areas
Software and Cyber-Physical Systems
Publication
Structure and Infrastructure Engineering
Volume
11
Issue
2
First Page
176
Last Page
193
ISSN
1573-2479
Identifier
10.1080/15732479.2013.862727
Publisher
Taylor & Francis (Routledge): STM, Behavioural Science and Public Health Titles
Citation
DE BATTISTA, Nicholas; BROWNJOHN, James M. W.; Hwee-Pink TAN; and KOO, Ki Young.
Measuring and modelling the thermal performance of the Tamar Suspension Bridge using a wireless sensor network. (2014). Structure and Infrastructure Engineering. 11, (2), 176-193.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/2962
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1080/15732479.2013.862727