Cable Force Health Monitoring of Tongwamen Bridge Based on Fiber Bragg Grating

Abstract

A normal cable force state of a suspension bridge is extremely vital to bridge safety. For cable force monitoring of already completed suspension bridges, it is not suitable to conduct direct parameter measurements by modifying the anchor cable structure of the bridge. Instead, using an indirect measurement would not destroy the bridge’s original structure and also meet engineering requirements. In this paper, a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) vibration sensor was developed for online monitoring of the cable vibration characteristics of Tongwamen bridge. The monitored vibration frequency was converted into cable force according to the theory of string vibration, so as to achieve an indirect measurement of bridge cable force. On both north and south sides of the bridge, FBG vibration sensors were mounted symmetrically on 8 of 19 cables for distributed measurement. The forces of two cables were found to be abnormal, which was considered worthy of attention and close inspection. This result is of great significance for the structural monitoring and safe operation of Tongwamen bridge.