Dynamic Analysis of a Cracked Beam-Like Bridge Subjected to Earthquake and Moving Vehicle

This paper presents the influence of a crack on the dynamic behavior of a beam-type bridge subjected to separately or simultaneously a moving vehicle and earthquake excitation. In this study, the bridge is modelled as a 3D beam by the finite element method. The stiffness matrix of a cracked beam element with rectangular section adopted from fracture mechanics is presented. The influences of crack appearance time, crack location, crack depth, and vehicle speed on the dynamic response of the bridge are investigated. When a crack is induced during external excitation the stiffness of the structure is changed leading to a change in natural frequencies during vibration. This change in the frequency is analysed by wavelet spectrum, a time-frequency analysis which can examine locally a signal in both time and frequency domains. The relationship between the crack depth and the instantaneous frequency (IF) of the structure is established which may prove useful for assessment of the crack depth. Numerical simulation results are presented to investigate the efficiency of the method.