A PROPOSED NEW APPROACH TO FULL LIFE QUANTITATIVE BRIDGE ASSESSMENT

An overview of the results of tests performed on a series of 10 reinforced concrete beams is presented. In these tests each beam was loaded incrementally to failure with the dynamic properties being monitored after each load increment. The results were then used to assess the suitability of the dynamic response parameters as damage indicators. The results indicate that although these parameters show repeatable trends, they are not suitable as damage indicators either because the changes are too small or because the non linear nature of the damaged structure masks the variation of what is essentially a linear parameter. In the light of this a new damage indicator is proposed based upon the rate of frequency shift observed as a result of the non linear behaviour. This has the added advantage of being suitable for use under ambient excitation. For the covering abstract see ITRD E111699.