Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

Evaluation of the structural integrity of timber bridges

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Timber bridges are used on all types of rail lines including important main transcontinental rail lines. A combined structural dynamic and ultrasonic inspection approach is proposed for testing these bridges. This paper presents results of preliminary field tests. Dynamic excitation of the system is used to identify suspect elements in the bridge. Ultrasonic inspection is used to evaluate the suspect elements identified from global testing. The potential for on-site evaluation based on two different dynamic excitations is investigated. Testing of a bridge member using dry coupled ultrasonics is shown to demonstrate this technique on aged timber.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)43-48
Number of pages6
JournalNDT and E International
Volume32
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1999

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by the Association of American Railroads under Contract Number TRAC-95-445 and by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Colorado State University.

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Association of American Railroads under Contract Number TRAC-95-445 and by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Colorado State University.

FundersFunder number
Department of Mechanical Engineering at Colorado State University
Association of American RailroadsTRAC-95-445

    Keywords

    • Bridges
    • Structural dynamics
    • Timber
    • Ultrasonics

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Materials Science
    • Condensed Matter Physics
    • Mechanical Engineering

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Evaluation of the structural integrity of timber bridges'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this