REVIEW OF FULL-SCALE DYNAMIC TESTING OF BRIDGE STRUCTURES

Full-scare dynamic testing of structures can provide valuable information on the service behaviour and performance of structures. With the growing interest in the structural condition of highway bridges, dynamic testing can be used as a tool for assessing the integrity of bridges. From the measured dynamic response, induced by ambient or forced excitation, modal parameters (natural frequencies, mode shapes and modal damping values) and system parameters (stiffness, mass and damping matrices) can be obtained. These identified parameters can then be used to characterize and monitor the performance of the structure. Analytical models of the structure can also be validated using these parameters. Reasons for conducting full-scale tests are given, and a discussion of the types of excitation devices used in forced vibration testing of large civil engineering structures is also included in the paper. A detailed review of published full-scale dynamic tests conducted on bridge structures is also given.