Using multi-type sensor measurements for damage detection of shear connectors in composite bridges under moving loads

This paper proposes using the multi-type sensor vibration measurements, such as from a relative displacement sensors and a traditional accelerometer for the damage detection of shear connectors in composite bridge under moving loads. Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) spectra of these responses will be fused with a data fusion approach i.e., Dempster-Shafer method, to detect the damage of shear connectors. Experimental studies on a composite bridge model in the laboratory are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness and performance of using the proposed approach in detecting the damage of shear connectors in composite bridges. Both undamaged and damaged scenarios are considered. The detection results with the data fusion of multi-type sensor measurements show a more reliable and robust performance and accuracy, avoiding the false identifications.