Damage Detection in Truss Bridges under Moving Load Using Time History Response and Members Influence Line Curves

In recent years, damage detection has been an important issue in the condition assessment of structures. This research presents a new method for the detection of damaged members in truss bridges under moving load using the time history response and influence line curves of the members. For this reason, two different Finite Element (FE) models of truss bridges under moving load with different damage scenarios have been investigated. The damaged members are detected by adapting the difference curve shape of displacement responses obtained from the intact and damaged models to the axial force influence line curve shape of these members. The results demonstrate that when a member of a truss bridge is damaged, the difference curve of displacement responses is similar in shape to the influence line curve of the damaged member. It should be noted that the proposed method can accurately diagnose the damaged members with the displacement response of only one desired point of the truss bridge.