Accelerometer Mass Loading Study Based on a Damage Identification Method using Fundamental Laws in Closed Systems

Abstract

Many civil engineering structures can be evaluated as closed systems in which additional mass spatial distribution can change within the system in terms of the fundamental continuity and energy equations. Considering the heavy hours of traffic, it can be assumed that the position of the vehicle mass on the bridge is variable, but the total mass remains constant. This study aims to show that the damage to the closed systems can be successfully estimated by using a damage indicator that is valid for systems with constant mass distribution. In the analytical study, a 100-element 200 degree of freedom fixed-free beam is investigated and the assessment of the damage position is verified numerically and the validity of the parameter is examined in an experimental study. Except for the piece at the free end of the beam; It has been determined that the damage indicator calculated on the damaged elements is 60 times larger than the damage indicator calculated at the undamaged elements. In the elements at the free end of the beam; it was observed that this ratio is between 6 and 40 depending on the mass of the accelerometer. Therefore, a criterion for accelerometer mass and damage indicator is proposed.