Variability in bridge frequency induced by a parked vehicle

The natural frequency of a bridge is an important parameter in many engineering applications such as bridge seismic design and modal-based bridge health monitoring. The natural frequency of a bridge vibrating alone may differ from that vibrating along with a vehicle. Although such vehicle-induced variability in bridge frequency is revealed in several experimental and numerical simulation studies, few attempts have been made on the theoretical descriptions. In this study, both theoretically and experimentally, the variability in the bridge frequency induced by a parked vehicle is verified, and is therefore suggested to be considered in bridge-related engineering, especially for those cases with near vehicle-bridge resonance conditions or with large vehicle-to-bridge mass ratios. Moreover, the variability ranges could be estimated by an analytical formula presented herein.