Vibration-Based Detection of Loosened Bolts on Pipes Attached to Bridges

Vibration-Based Detection of Loosened Bolts on Pipes Attached to Bridges

Kobayashi Daiki, Ikeguchi Yuta, Nakagawa Masafumi, Aratake Atsushi

Abstract. U-bolts are critical points of maintenance in pipeline facilities supported by girders of bridges. However, it is difficult to detect loosened U-bolts by visual inspection. To avoid this problem, we have developed a vibration-based method to detect loosening of bolts based on measurements of actual equipment. First, the vibration of a communication pipeline attached to a road bridge was measured when vehicles passed over it. During the measurements, the U-bolts were set in tightened and loosened states. We found that the frequency changes between the tightened and loosened states was too small for practical use. On the other hand, a strong spectrum in the high frequency region (above 80 Hz) appeared only in the tightened state. Next, a model facility was built to simulate a communication pipeline attached to bridge. A hammering test and modal and frequency response analyses were performed by using the finite element method (FEM). The results suggested that high frequency peaks appearing only in the tightened U-bolt are due to the higher rate of force transfer of the natural frequency from the platform. In addition, the pipe is strongly fixed when the U-bolt is tightened, which may lead to stronger high order modes that cause complex deformation of the pipe. The conventional method is to detect loosening of bolts from changes in the natural frequency. However, in actual equipment, confirming the absence of a high-frequency spectrum is more suitable for detecting loosened bolts.

Keywords
Civil Engineering, Vibration-Based Detection, Loosened Bolts, Dynamic Analysis, Pipeline

Published online 2/20/2021, 8 pages
Copyright © 2021 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA

Citation: Kobayashi Daiki, Ikeguchi Yuta, Nakagawa Masafumi, Aratake Atsushi, Vibration-Based Detection of Loosened Bolts on Pipes Attached to Bridges, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 18, pp 233-240, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644901311-28

The article was published as article 28 of the book Structural Health Monitoring

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

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