Using a Single-DOF Test Vehicle to Simultaneously Retrieve the First Few Frequencies and Damping Ratios of the Bridge

Bridge damping ratios are extracted via the skillful use of the single-degree-of-freedom (DOF) test vehicle for the first time in this paper. Central to the simultaneous retrieval of the first few frequencies and damping ratios from the contact (point) response of the bridge is the use of the variational mode decomposition (VMD) and random-decrement technique (RDT). Closed-form solutions are newly derived for the vehicle and contact responses of the damped bridge and validated later numerically. Using the proposed method, one calculates first the mono-component from the contact response by the VMD; then extracts the free-decay response for each mode by the RDT; and finally identifies the frequency and damping ratio by the Hilbert transform. The parametric study confirms that: (1) the contact response outperforms vehicle's response in retrieving bridge frequencies and damping ratios; (2) the first few frequencies can be identified with robustness for reasonable levels of road roughness, vehicle speed, bridge damping and noise; (1) good result is obtained for the first damping ratio, in spite of the traditional uncertainty existing with damping; and (2) ongoing traffic can enhance the proposed method for bridge identification.