Investigation of the usefulness of the MTS method for detecting deterioration and damage in bridge slabs

Abstract

Currently, the number of aging bridges is rapidly increasing in Japan, and there is a need to establish a more efficient and quantitative bridge inspection method. The authors have focused on the impact vibration testing using a portable FWD and have conducted experiments on small bridges. We have measured the response acceleration and applied the MTS method to the difference in response acceleration between multiple measurement points to determine the localized damage and deterioration in the slab. In this study, we used FEM analysis to investigate the influence of the degree and extent of deterioration on the results obtained using the MTS method, and the usefulness of the MTS method for detecting deterioration and damage in slabs.