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Experimental measurement of bridge deflection using Digital Image Correlation

Publication . Sousa, Pedro J.; Barros, Francisco; Lobo, Paulo; Tavares, Paulo J.; Moreira, Pedro M. G. P.

Civil engineering bridges usually face a multitude of loads, ranging from strong winds to intense traffic. Thus, it is important to understand their behaviour for adequate maintenance design and prevention of catastrophic failure. The present work reports an image sensing methodology for deflection measurement that was successfully employed on the Entre-Águas bridge in Caniçal, Madeira, Portugal. For the application of two-dimensional Digital Image Correlation, it was necessary to build and deploy a patterned target onto the bridge in the monitored area and a camera setup in stable ground on a plane orthogonal to the target. Two different 2D DIC software packages were used for calculations, one commercial and one self-developed, enabling their comparison and increasing the confidence in the experimental results. The developed system was applied in order to analyze the effects of the passage of 30-ton trucks in the bridge, with promising results.

2019Journal article

Open access