Finite element modeling of a six span bridge

Periodic inspection and testing of a structure is necessary to ensure its structural integrity and reliability. Visual inspection alone is not adequate to determine structural integrity. Internal damage and the damage in inaccessible areas are hard to detect in such investigations. Structural identification is a technique that may help to overcome these shortcomings. Developing the right analytical model of the structure plays a key role in ensuring that the model can be used in structural identification. Finite element modeling is the most commonly used tool in structural modeling. Finite element models usually have a high sensitivity to different structural parameters like stiffness, damping etc. Arriving at the correct values for these parameters is an important factor due to the model's high sensitivity to these values. Different kinds of iterative optimization algorithms have been developed to arrive at these values. This paper discusses one such algorithm and shows the application of this algorithm to the finite element model of a six span bridge.