Dynamic analysis of a pedestrian timber truss bridge at three construction stages

• This article investigates the dynamic behaviour of a single span pedestrian timber truss bridge by in situ testing and numerical modelling. The in situ dynamic tests were performed at three different construction stages: (1) on only the truss structure, (2) on the finished bridge without the asphalt layer and (3) on the finished bridge with the asphalt layer. The objective is to better understand how the different parts of the bridge contribute to the overall dynamic properties. The experimental results show that the damping ratios increased significantly for the first lateral mode (from 1.0 to 3.8%) and the first torsional mode (from 1.2 to 3.5%) between stage 2 and stage 3 due to the asphalt layer. The damping ratio is around 1.6% for the first bending mode for the finished bridge. The experimental and numerical results indicate that the stiffness of the asphalt layer is important to consider at stage 3 (10 degrees C) for the first lateral and torsional mode, but not for the first bending mode. Finally, it was concluded that longitudinal springs must be applied at the pot bearings in order to get agreement with the experimental results at all the three stages.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Samhällsbyggnadsteknik -- Infrastrukturteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Civil Engineering -- Infrastructure Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Pedestrian bridge

Timber

Railings

Asphalt

Dynamic analysis

Finite element modelling

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)