Vibration characteristics and damage detection in a suspension bridge

• Damage detection in a suspension bridge is treated using vibration Characteristics.
• Component specific damage indices (DIs) are developed and applied to detect damage
• Vertical damage index can detect and locate damage in the suspension bridge cables
• This damage index DIV performs well even in the presence of noise in modal data.
• The dominant vibration mode being in the vertical direction DIV performs better

Suspension bridges are flexible and vibration sensitive structures that exhibit complex and multi-modal vibration. Due to this, the usual vibration based methods could face a challenge when used for damage detection in these structures. This paper develops and applies a mode shape component specific damage index (DI) to detect and locate damage in a suspension bridge with pre-tensioned cables. This is important as suspension bridges are large structures and damage in them during their long service lives could easily go un-noticed. The capability of the proposed vibration based DI is demonstrated through its application to detect and locate single and multiple damages with varied locations and severity in the cables of the suspension bridge. The outcome of this research will enhance the safety and performance of these bridges which play an important role in the transport network.