Linear system parameter as an indicator for structural diagnosis of short span bridges

This paper intended to investigate the feasibility of bridge health monitoring using a linear system parameter of a time series model identified from traffic-induced vibrations of bridges through a laboratory moving vehicle experiment on scaled model bridges. This study considered the system parameter of the bridge-vehicle interactive system rather than modal ones because signals obtained under a moving vehicle are not the responses of the bridge itself but those of the interactive system. To overcome the shortcomings of modal parameter-based bridge diagnosis using a time series model, this study considered coefficients of Autoregressive model (AR coefficients) as an early indicator of anomaly of bridges. This study also investigated sensitivity of AR coefficients in detecting anomaly of bridges. Observations demonstrated effectiveness of using AR coefficients as an early indicator for anomaly of bridges.