Health monitoring of segmental bridge of Emam Khomeini intersection of Kermanshah by flexibility matrix method based on natural frequency

In recent years, vibration-based damage detection has been used to assess damage to structures. In this case, damage detection is based on changing the dynamic response before and after damage. In this research, the flexibity matrix method has been used to identify damage in segmental bridge (Imam Khomeini intersection bridge). The advantage of this method is its accuracy and sensitivity to a small number of modes for large structures. The bridge was simulated in Abacus software and after applying weight and prestressing force to the cables, the frequency and modal shapes were extracted for healthy and damaged conditions. Damaged conditions included three scenarios, single (in one place) and multiple (in several places and simultaneously) on the bridge deck as well as damage to the column. Each of the above damages involved a 30% reduction in stiffness. The results showed that this method was able to detect damages in the deck. But more investigation was needed to monitor the health of the column. The accuracy of health monitoring was also assessed using two modes, which had acceptable accuracy compared to the use of 6 modes.