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Vibration measurement by radar techniques

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Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 92
Leuven, Belgium, 4-6 July 2011
G. De Roeck, G. Degrande, G. Lombaert, G. Müller (eds.)
ISBN 978-90-760-1931-4

Vibration measurement by radar techniques

C. Gentile1
1
Politecnico di Milano, Department of Structural Engineering, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, 20133 Milan, Italy
email: gentile@stru.polimi.it

ABSTRACT: Recent advances in radar techniques and systems have led to the development of microwave interferometers,
suitable for the non-contact vibration monitoring of large structures. The main characteristic of these radar systems, entirely
designed and developed by Italian researchers, is the possibility of simultaneously measuring the (static or dynamic) deflection
of several points on a large structure with high accuracy. The main ideas of the microwave-based measurement of deflections
are: (a) to employ a radar to take coherent and consecutive images of the investigated structure, with each image being a
distance map of the radar echoes intensity coming from the reflecting targets detected on the structure; (b) to evaluate the
displacement of each target from the phase of the back-scattered electromagnetic waves collected at different times (microwave
interferometry). In the first part of the paper, the main techniques adopted in microwave remote sensing are described, so that
advantages and potential issues of these techniques are addressed and discussed. Subsequently, the results of past and recent
tests of full-scale structures are presented, in order to demonstrate the reliability and accuracy of microwave remote sensing;
furthermore, the simplicity of use of the radar technology is exemplified in practical cases, where the access with conventional
techniques is uneasy or even hazardous, such as stay cables or tall structures.

KEY WORDS: Ambient vibration testing; Bridge dynamics; Microwave interferometry; Radar; Remote Sensing; Stay cables.

1 INTRODUCTION
The most peculiar characteristic of a conventional radar is its
ability to determine the range (i.e. the distance) of a target by
measuring the time for the radar signal to propagate to the
target and back. Although the name RADAR is derived from
RAdio Detection And Ranging, it is well-known [1] that a
radar is capable of providing more information about the
target than its name would imply and typical applications
include the evaluation of the radial velocity, the angular
direction, size and shape of the target.
A microwave interferometer [2], based on a commercial
Gunn diode transceiver unit, was first used to remotely
measure the deflection response of a civil engineering
structure, during forced vibration testing of the I-40 bridge
over the Rio Grande in Albuquerque [3]; this sensor did not
provide any range resolution, i.e. was not capable to detect
different targets in the scenario illuminated by the radar beam.
More recently, the combined use of radar interferometry [4]
and high resolution waveforms [5]-[6] and has led to the
development of an innovative radar technology [7], apt to
simultaneously measure the (static or dynamic) displacement
of several points on a large structure with high sensitivity. The
new technology is based on two main ideas:
(a) to employ high resolution electromagnetic waveforms to
take consecutive images of the investigated structure,
with each image being a distance map of the intensity of
radar echoes coming from the reflecting targets. For
example, each discontinuity of a structure, such as the
corner zones corresponding to the intersection of girders
and cross-beams in the deck of bridges, represents a good
reflecting target, so that the corner zones act as a series of
virtual sensors;
(b) to measure the displacement response of each target
detected in the scenario by analysing the phase of the
back-scattered microwaves collected at different times
(microwave interferometry).
The practical implementation of the above principles in a
sensor prototype was carried out by the Italian company IDS
(Ingegneria Dei Sistemi, Pisa, Italy), in collaboration with the
University of Florence [7], mainly in the framework of the
Project PARNASO-MATER (2001-2004), funded by the Italian
Government. Subsequently, a joint research started between
IDS and the Department of Structural Engineering of
Politecnico di Milano, mainly aimed to validate the results of
the microwave interferometer, named IBIS-S (Image By
Interferometric Survey of Structures), and especially to assess
the equipment performances in ambient vibration testing of
full-scale bridges [8]-[11].
In the first part of the paper, the phase interferomery
technique [4] and the high resolution radar waveforms [5]-[6],
employed in the radar-based measurement of deflections, are
described so that advantages and potential issues of these
techniques are addressed and discussed; furthermore, the main
technical characteristics of the microwave vibrometer are
summarized.
Subsequently, the results of past and recent full-scale tests
are presented and discussed, in order to demonstrate:
• the long-term stability, required for actual employment in
testing of full-scale structures or in continuous dynamic
monitoring;
• the accuracy of microwave remote sensing through the
comparison between the data acquired from conventional
sensors and the radar interferometer;
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 93

• the simplicity of use of the radar technology, especially (a)

when applied to the measurement of the vibration
response of structural elements and structures very
difficult to access by using conventional techniques, such
as the stay cables in cable-stayed structures.
2 THE RADAR TECHNOLOGY
In order to understand how it is possible to measure
displacements by using a radar, let us consider the single
degree of freedom system shown in Figure 1 and a radar
emitting a simple sinusoidal wave. If the mass does not move,
the phase angle of the radar echo does not change in time;
similarly, if the mass is vibrating, the received echoes
obtained at different times exhibit phase differences, which
are proportional to the displacement along the direction of
wave propagation. Hence, the displacement dr along the radar
line of sight is simply computed from the phase shift ∆ϕ as:
λ
dr = − ∆ϕ
4π
λ being the wavelength of the electromagnetic signal.
The extension of microwave interferometry (1) to real
structures requires to acquire "images" of the structure at an
appropriate sampling rate, with several points on the structure
being individually detectable. Two or more target points,
illuminated by the radar, are individually detectable if they
produce different echoes. The range resolution or distance
resolution refers to the minimum separation that can be
detected along the radar line of sight. The range resolution
area is called range bin.
Among the various radar waveforms [5]-[6] providing high
range resolution, the more usual is probably the short pulse.
The shorter the pulse, the more precise is the measurement of
the range because the range resolution r is related to the
pulse duration by the following:
cτ
∆r =
2 constant frequency increment ∆f.
where c is the speed of light in free space.
(b)
Figure 2. Representation of a Stepped Frequency Continuous
Waveform in: (a) time domain and (b) frequency domain.
For a signal of duration , it can be shown [12] that the
time-bandwidth product satisfies the equality B = 1, where B
is the equivalent bandwidth in Hz. Hence, the range resolution
r may be expressed as:
(1) c
∆r = (3)
2B
Eqs. (2) and (3) show that a better range resolution
(corresponding to a smaller numerical value of ∆r) can be
obtained either decreasing or increasing B.
Instead of using short-time pulses, the Stepped Frequency
Continuous Wave (SF-CW) technique [5]-[6] can be adopted
to resolve the scenario in the range direction, i.e. to detect the
position of different targets placed along the radar’s line of
sight. SF-CW radars exhibit a large bandwidth by linearly
increasing the frequency of successive pulses in discrete steps,
as shown in Figure 2; hence, a SF-CW radar has a narrow
instantaneous bandwidth (corresponding to individual pulse)
and attains a large effective bandwidth:
B = ( N − 1) ∆f (4)
with a burst of N electromagnetic pulses, generally named
(2) tones, whose frequencies are increased from tone to tone by a
In a SF-CW radar, the signal source dwells at each
frequency fk = fo + k∆f (k=0,1,2, …, N−1) long enough to
receive the echoes of the furthest target, before transmitting
the following tone. Consequently, the duration of each single
pulse Ttone depends on the maximum distance Rmax to be
observed in the scenario:

2 Rmax
Ttone = (5)
c
and the number N of tones composing each burst is:

2 Rmax
N= (6)
∆r
t1 t2
On the other hand, eqs. (5) and (6) clearly highlight that the
maximum sampling rate of the scenario fsample depends on Rmax
and ∆r:
1 c c∆r
fsample ≅ = = 2
(7)
NTtone 2 NRmax 4 Rmax
Figure 1. Schematic representation of radar interferometry.
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011
Figure 3. Evaluation of high-resolution range profile (focusing procedure) from SF-CW.
Figure 4. Idealization of a radar image profile (range profile).
Eq. (7) clearly shows that:
(a) the maximum sampling rate decreases as the maximum
measured distance increases (since the system has to wait
for a longer time to receive the echo of the furthest
target);
(b) the maximum sampling rate increases as the range
resolution increases.
SF waveforms produce a synthetic profile of scattering
objects through the procedure summarized in Figure 3. At
each sampled time instant, both in-phase (I) and quadrature
(Q) components of the received signals are acquired, so that
the resulting data consist of a vector of N complex samples,
representing the frequency response measured at N discrete
frequencies. By taking the Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform
(IDFT), the response is reconstructed in the time domain of
the radar: each complex sample in this domain represents the
echo from a range (distance) interval of length c/2B.
The IDFT evaluation is generally referred to as focusing
process, since this procedure focuses the back-scattered
94
signals in N different resolution cells. The synthetic profile, or
amplitude range profile, of the radar echoes is then obtained
by calculating the magnitude of the IDFT of acquired vector
samples. The amplitude range profile is simply a map of the
intensity of the received radar echoes in function of the
distance of the objects that generated the echoes themselves;
in other words, it represents a 1-D map of the scattering
objects versus their distances from the sensor.
The concept of range profile is better illustrated in Figure 4,
where an ideal range profile is shown, as obtained when the
radar beam illuminates a series of targets at different distances
and different angles from the axis of the system. Figure 4
shows the angle of transmission covered by the main lobe of
the antenna in the horizontal plane, with all the points inside
the shadowed area of Figure 4 being observable from the
sensor. It is to be noticed that a radar sensor transmits
electromagnetic waves also in the vertical plane (see also
Figures 16a and 19) and that different transmission angles in
the vertical and horizontal plane could be obtained by using
different antennas. The peaks in the plot of Figure 4 identify
the position in range of the points with good electromagnetic
reflectivity. In other words, the amplitude of the IDFT at each
sampling interval ∆t=1/fsample=NTtone provides the position of
the targets detected in the scenario, whereas the phase
difference between two consecutive IDFTs provides the
deflection of each range bin through eq. (1).
It is worth underlining that the microwave interferometry,
represented by eq. (1), provides a measurement of the
displacement of each range bin along the radar line of sight;
hence, the evaluation of the actual displacement requires the
knowledge of the direction of motion (see also Figure 14a).
Figure 4 also shows that the radar has only 1-D imaging
capabilities, i.e. different targets can be individually detected
if they are placed at different distances from the radar.
Consequently, measurement errors may arise from the
multiplicity of contributions to the same range bin, coming
from different points placed at the same distance from the
radar but not lying on the same axis [8]-[9], [13].
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011
Figure 5. View of the radar sensor (IDS, model IBIS-S).
Table 1. Technical characteristics of the radar sensor.
Parameter Value
Maximum operational distance 500 m
Minimum distance resolution 0.50 m
Maximum sampling frequency 200 Hz
Displacement accuracy 0.02 mm
System Setup time 10 minutes
Operative weather condition All
3 THE RADAR MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
The radar techniques described in the previous section were
implemented in the industrially engineered microwave
interferometer, shown in Figure 5 (IDS, model IBIS-S).
The microwave interferometer consists of a sensor module,
a control PC and a power supply unit. The sensor module
(Figure 5) is a coherent radar (i.e., a radar preserving the
phase information of the received signal) generating,
transmitting and receiving the electromagnetic signals to be
processed in order to provide the deflection measurements.
The sensor, including two horn antennas, has a weight of 12
kg and is installed on a tripod equipped with a rotating head,
so that it can be aligned in any desired direction (Figure 5).
The sensor consists of low frequency (LF), intermediate
frequency (IF) and radio frequency (RF) sections. A fast
frequency hopping signal is generated by a Direct Digital
Synthesis device in the LF or base-band section; a tune-able
sine wave is generated through a high-speed digital to analog
converter, reading a sine look-up table in response to a digital
tuning word and a precision clock source. In addition, the LF
section receives the base-band signal and performs its analog
to digital conversion. The IF and RF sections mainly perform
amplification and frequency conversion operations (up-
conversion in the transmitter chain and down-conversion in
the receiving chain). The RF section radiates at a central
frequency of 17.20 GHz with a maximum bandwidth of 300
MHz. The up and down frequency conversions are made by
using the same internal reference signal in order to preserve
the phase information of the signal. As in super heterodyne
architecture radars, the conversion to and from the high
95
frequency band is made in two steps: the first step is
performed in the IF section and brings the signal to an
intermediate frequency while the second step, performed into
the RF section, converts the signal to the radio frequency
band. A final calibration section provides the necessary phase
stability; design specifications on phase uncertainty are
suitable for measuring deflections with a range uncertainty
lower than 0.01 mm.
The sensor unit is connected to the control PC by means of
a standard USB 2.0 interface; the control PC is provided with
the software for the system management and is used to
configure the acquisition parameters, store the acquired
signals, process the data and view the initial results in real
time. Finally, the power supply unit provides power to the
system through a 12 V battery unit.
From the technical standpoint, the sensor is a SF-CW,
coherent radar, operating in the Ku frequency band [1]. It
should be noticed that a CW radar can reach the same far
distance of a pulse radar by transmitting lower peak power so
that SF-CW radars are generally included in the Short Range
Device category as a license-free use equipments. In addition,
SF modulated radars can transmit and receive signals with
high-precision frequency control by using Direct Digital
Synthesizer (DDS), an innovative up-to-date device for
generating step-frequency signals.
The main technical and operational characteristics of the
IBIS-S sensor are summarized in Table 1. As shown in Table
1, the SF-CW technique was implemented in the IBIS-S
sensor to obtain a minimum range resolution of 0.50 m while
the scenario is sampled at a rate ranging up to 200 Hz. On the
other hand, it has to be recalled that, according to eq. (7), the
sampling rate depends on the maximum distance Rmax to be
observed in the scenario. The dependence of fsample on Rmax is
shown in Figure 6, for three different distance resolutions. It
can be observed in Figure 6 that, for a range resolution of 0.50
m, the sampling rate drops off for distances larger than 150.0
m while, for a range resolution of 1.0 m, the sampling rate
starts to decrease for distances exceeding 300.0 m and reaches
the value of 35 Hz for a range of 1000.0 m. Figure 6 also
shows that the maximum value of the sampling rate has been
limited to 200 Hz because the significant frequency content of
the displacement time-histories is generally in the frequency
range 0−20 Hz for a large structure; in addition, sampling
interval ∆t = 0.005 s is in principle well suitable to provide a
good waveform definition of the acquired signals.
Figure 6. Sampling rate vs. maximum distance for three
different values of the distance resolution.
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011
(a) (b)
(c)
Figure 7. Capriate bridge: (a) View; (b) Elevation, plan, typical cross-sections and sensor layout during the bridge test
(dimensions in m); (c) Accelerometer and corner reflector installed on the bridge deck.
Figure 8. Typical deflection measured by the radar at TP25.
4 VALIDATION AND ACCURACY OF THE RADAR
TECHNIQUE
4.1 Laboratory tests
Unlike other non-contact techniques of deflection measure-
ment, that are generally characterized by an accuracy ranging
between 1.0-4.0 mm (image-based technique) [14] and 1.0 cm
(GPS) [15], sub-millimetric accuracy has in principle to be
expected from the IBIS-S microwave interferometer (based on
the design specification of its components). This performance
was verified in various laboratory tests, before using the radar
in the field on full-scale structures. Among these tests, the
free-vibration response of a simple mass-spring system was
measured at a distance of 7.0 m and the accuracy of the sensor
turned out to be better than 0.02 mm [10].
4.2 Ambient vibration test of a reinforced concrete bridge
The radar equipment was successfully used on site for the first
time in 2007, during the ambient vibration test (AVT) of a
reinforced concrete bridge crossing the Adda river at Capriate
[8], [10] about 50 km north-east of Milan. A view and the
general arrangement of the bridge are shown in Figures 7a and
7b.
96
In this test, the ambient vibration response of the bridge was
measured by simultaneously using the radar sensor and
conventional accelerometers. In order to ensure accurate
comparison between the signals acquired from the different
sensors, simple passive radar reflectors were placed as close
as possible to the accelerometers (Figure 7c). During the test,
the microwave interferometer was placed near the basement
of the Trezzo-side pier (at a distance of 4.60 m from the axis
of the pylon) and has been configured to measure targets up to
a distance of 100.0 m, with a scenario sampling frequency of
100 Hz.
Figure 8 shows an example of the deflection time series
measured at TP25 (Figure 7b); it should be noticed that the
displacement signals are very similar to what expected, based
on well-known theoretical models (see e.g. [16]): peculiarly,
when the moving load is in the neighbourhood of the test
point, the signal is composed by the superposition of one peak
and damped harmonic functions.
Two series of AVTs were carried out and the response of
the bridge was measured at selected points using WR-731A
sensors, each with a WR-P31 power unit/amplifier. These
sensors, allowing acceleration or velocity responses to be
recorded, were used as conventional accelerometers in a first
series of tests, aimed at identifying the dynamic characteristics
of the bridge; velocity time-histories were recorded during a
second series of tests, when the microwave interferometer and
the WR-731A sensors were simultaneously used.
The tests had the main objective of investigating the
agreement between the time series obtained from the radar
and the ones recorded by conventional sensors (over a time
window of 3000 s) in correspondence of several target
surfaces (Figures 7b and 7c); more specifically, the velocity
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011
time-histories directly recorded by the WR 731A sensors were
compared to the ones computed by deriving the displacements
obtained by the radar sensor. Subsequently, resonant
frequencies and mode shapes of the bridge, identified from the
radar signals, were compared to the corresponding quantities
estimated from the accelerometer’s records.
An example of comparison between radar and conventional
signals is given in Figures 9a and 9b; the figures refer to the
velocities simultaneously recorded at test points TP22 and
TP26 (Figure 7b) over a short time period (10 s) and clearly
show an excellent agreement between the data obtained from
radar and conventional sensors. A similar agreement was
obtained for all corner reflectors during 3000 s of
simultaneously acquired time window, provided that the
deflection response exceeds 0.01-0.02 mm.
As a consequence of the very good agreement in terms of
time series, the resonant frequencies and mode shapes
provided by the radar sensor turned out to be as accurate as
those obtained with traditional accelerometers [8], [10].
It is further noticed that the microwave interferometer
exhibited a remarkable stability in long term functioning on
site (required for effective employment in AVT or continuous
dynamic monitoring).
(a)
(b)
Figure 9. Velocity time series obtained by conventional and
radar sensor at different test points: (a) TP22; (b) TP26.
4.3 Ambient vibration test of a steel-composite bridge
In order to assess the performance of microwave remote
sensing without the use of corner reflectors, static and
dynamic tests were carried out on some spans of a steel-
composite bridge [9]. Steel and steel-composite bridges are
more reflective to electromagnetic waves than the concrete
ones; furthermore, the deck generally includes a good number
of reflecting corner zones, provided by the intersection of
girders and cross-beams. In both static and dynamic tests,
experimental data were collected by simultaneously using the
radar technique and conventional techniques, with validation
purposes.
The investigated bridge belongs to a motorway intersection
completed in 2008; the new infrastructure, shown in Figure
10a, includes two viaducts over-passing Forlanini Avenue,
Milan, which is the main road linking the centre of Milan to
the city airport of Linate. The south-side viaduct is a
continuous span steel-concrete composite bridge, consisting of
8 spans; the intermediate spans are generally 50.0 m long,
while the end-spans are 38.0 m long, for a total length of
97
376.0 m. The structure consists of ladder beams with
cantilevers and the cross-section (Figure 10b) is characterised
by two main girders with transverse cross-beams, at a
longitudinal spacing of 4.17 m. The cross-beams are extended
beyond the girder to form cantilevers spanning 4.15 m. The
girders are 2.55 m high while the floor beams are 1.00 m high.
Girders and floor beams have wide flanges supporting a
reinforced concrete slab, 25.0 cm thick. The total width of the
deck is 18.0 m for three traffic lanes and two lateral
emergency lanes.
Ambient vibration tests were carried out only on the span
between piers P2S and P3S (Figure 11a); during the tests, 10
WR-731A accelerometers (Figures 11b and 11c) and the radar
sensor were simultaneously used. Velocity responses were
recorded by the conventional sensors to allow an easier
comparison with the signals collected by the radar system.
Figure 11b shows a sketch of the accelerometer layout on
span P2S-P3S and the position of IBIS-S sensor. The control
PC of the microwave interferometer has been configured to
detect targets in the distance interval 0-80.0 m, with a scenario
sampling frequency of 200 Hz.
The analysis of the radar results firstly involved the
inspection of the ground range profile (i.e. the diagram
obtained from the range profile by projecting the range along
the longitudinal axis of the bridge), shown in Figure 11d;
(a)
(b)
Figure 10. Viaduct over-passing Forlanini Avenue (Milan,
Italy): (a) Aerial view; (b) Cross-section (dimensions in m).
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 98

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 11. Viaduct over-passing Forlanini Avenue: (a) View of the investigated span; (b) Accelerometer layout and radar
position during the tests (dimensions in m); (c) Example of WR-731A accelerometer installed on the bridge; (d) Typical ground-
range profile obtained from the radar during the tests of the investigated span.

sensor. Such differences in the amplitude, observed in all

cross-beams over a 2260 s period, may be explained by
recalling that conventional and radar measurements do not
refer to the same points and are possibly related to the torsion
of the deck.
The OMA of simultaneously acquired data (over a time
window of 2260 s) seems to confirm the above hypothesis. 13
normal modes were identified in the frequency range 0−9 Hz
Figure 12. Example of comparison between the velocities
by applying the FDD technique [17] to the velocity data
recorded by conventional and radar sensor.
recorded by the WR731A sensors and to the displacement
data provided by the IBIS-S sensor. The identified modes are
this inspection, performed on site, allows to verify that the dominant bending (B) modes and dominant torsion modes (T)
sensor position provides a correct image of the scenario. For of the deck; due to the transverse slope of the deck, deck
example, the radar image of Figure 11d exhibits several peaks torsion is never negligible, even under dominant bending.
clearly marking the relative distance from the sensor of the
Table 2. Viaduct over-passing Forlanini Avenue: Modal
transverse cross-beams reflecting the electromagnetic waves.
parameters identified from conventional and radar data.
Moreover, the peaks of Figure 11d identify with excellent
accuracy the cross-beams, provided that the distance between Mode f (Hz)
the radar and the axis of P3S pier (2.90 m, Figure 11b) is MAC
Identifier WR-731A IBIS-S
properly accounted for. It is observed that the areas of the
cross-beams corresponding to the peaks of Figure 11d are in B1 1.904 1.905 0.996
principle placed along the radar line of sight, as it is B2 2.075 2.076 0.992
schematically shown in Figure 11b. B3 2.368 2.345 0.989
As in the previous investigation, the velocities recorded by B4 2.686 2.663 0.997
the WR 731A sensors were compared to the velocities B5 3.052 3.029 0.998
computed by deriving the displacement obtained from the B6 3.369 3.371 0.995
IBIS-S sensor. An example of comparison is given in Figure T1 3.638 3.640 0.995
12, which refers to the signals simultaneously recorded in the B7 3.833 3.835 0.998
central cross-section (sensor A06 and zone F of the cantilever, T2 6.055 6.058 0.994
Figure 11b) over a time period of 10 s. Figure 12 clearly B8 6.348 6.327 0.989
shows that the two series of data exhibit the same evolution in B9 6.641 6.645 0.985
time and very similar shapes, with the radar time series being B10 6.982 6.987 0.976
about 30% larger than the one recorded by the conventional T3 7.251 7.280 0.984
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011
Table 2 summarizes the modal parameters identified from
the data acquired by using the two different measurement
techniques. Specifically, Table 2 compares the corresponding
mode shapes and scaled modal vectors through the well-
known Modal Assurance Criterion (MAC) [18].
The natural frequencies identified from radar data turned
out to be practically equal to the ones from conventional data
(with the frequency discrepancy being less than 1%, as shown
in Table 2). Furthermore, also the modal displacements
exhibit a very good agreement, with MAC values always very
close to unity (provided that the modal amplitudes are scaled
to their maximum values).
4.4 Comparison with position transducer data
More recently, taking profit of the static load tests performed
on a new viaduct, deflection time series were collected by the
microwave sensor and cable extension position transducer.
Figure 13a shows the acquisition geometry adopted on site to
measure the vertical displacement at the centre of the viaduct
sixth span by using the conventional sensor and the radar
(used in this case as a single-point interferometer).
Although the focus of the test program was the measure-
ment of vertical deflections of the bridge under the live load
provided by heavy trucks of known weight and geometry
located at selected points of the structure, few vehicle running
tests were performed, using one truck with the load of 40 ton
and the running speed of 30 and 40 km/h. Figure 13b shows
an example of comparison between the displacement time-
histories simultaneously measured by the different sensors.
Figure 13b shows, on one hand, that the two time series are
almost un-distinguishable and demonstrates, once more, the
reliability and accuracy of microwave remote sensing. On the
other hand, Figure 13b clearly suggests the use of the radar
survey for the simple and effective evaluation of the dynamic
effects of traffic on railway and road bridges [19].
(a)
(b)
Figure 13. (a) Radar and position transducer set-up in the
field; (b) Typical comparison results for displacement
measurement.
99
5 MICROWAVE REMOTE SENSING OF STAY CABLES
In order to investigate the global integrity and structural safety
of cable-stayed bridges, periodic dynamic measurements on
stay-cables are generally aimed at identifying the local natural
frequencies, evaluating the tension forces (that are predicted
from natural frequencies) and monitoring the changes in these
forces over time. If a linear correlation exists between the
mode order n and the corresponding natural frequency fn of a
cable, the tension force T in this cable can be obtained from its
natural frequencies using the taut string model [20]-[21]:
2
fn
T = 4 ρL2 (8)
n
where ρ is the mass per unit length and L is the effective
length of the cable. For tension members that deviate from a
taut string, still the cable forces can be predicted using the
identified natural frequencies with reference to more advanced
formulations, accounting for the effects of both the sag and
the bending stiffness on the dynamic behaviour of cables [22].
Application of the radar technique to the measurement of
cable vibrations is especially promising in order to perform
systematic dynamic assessment of stay cables in a simple and
quick way. Firstly, high accuracy has to be expected from
radar-based measurements in terms of both natural
frequencies and cable tensions [9]-[10]. Furthermore, the
microwave interferometry exhibits in principle some
advantages with respect to other techniques of remote sensing,
such as: (a) possibility of use also in case of fog or rain and in
almost all weather conditions; (b) high precision of the
measured deflections; (c) possibility of simultaneously
measuring the response of several cables.
In addition, the possible issues that may occur in the
application of the radar technique to large structures (i.e. 1-D
imaging capabilities, geo-referencing of target points and a
priori knowledge of the direction of motion) do not affect the
survey of an array of stay cables. In more detail:
1. the typical position of the sensor in the survey of an array
of cables is inclined upward, as schematically shown in
Figure 14a; hence, the only targets encountered along the
path of the electromagnetic waves are the stays itself and
1-D imaging capability is perfectly adequate to the test
scenario;
2. it can be assumed that the in-plane motion of the cable is
orthogonal to its axis, so that the actual deflection d can
be expressed as:
dr
d= (9)
cos[π / 2 − (α c + α s )]
where αc and αs are the slopes of the cable and of the
sensor, respectively (Figure 14a). In other words, the
prior knowledge of the direction of motion is available for
cable systems, so that it is possible to evaluate the actual
displacement d from the line-of-sight one (dr);
3. Figure 14b shows that it is straightforward to predict the
scenario under the radar beam, so that the inspection of
the range profile allows to quickly verifying on site that
the sensor position provides a correct image of the test
scenario.
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 100

(a) (b)

Figure 14. (a) Line-of-sight displacement versus actual (in-plane) displacement of a stay-cable; (b) typical range profile
expected for an array including two cables.

Figure 15. View, elevation, plan and typical cross-sections of the cable-stayed bridge in Porto Marghera (dimensions in cm).

The cast-in-place inclined tower (Figure 15) is a visually

5.1 Application to the stay cables of the curved cable-
stayed bridge in Porto Marghera (Venice, Italy)
As previously pointed out, dynamic measurements on stay-
cables are often aimed at identifying the local natural
frequencies. In order to evaluate the reliability and the
accuracy of microwave remote sensing, the radar technique
was firstly applied to few stays of a cable-stayed bridge
crossing the Adda River [9]-[10]. More recently, extensive
measurements were performed in operational conditions on all
stay cables of the curved cable-stayed bridge (Figure 15)
erected in the commercial harbour of Porto Marghera (Venice,
Italy), again by using accelerometers and microwave remote
sensing.
The cable-stayed bridge belongs to a viaduct, including six
spans (42 m + 105 m + 126 m + 30 m + 42 m + 42 m), that
generally curves with a radius of 175 m. The two longer
curved spans are suspended by cable-stays from an inclined
tower (Figure 15).
The cable-stayed bridge consists of an inclined concrete
tower, single-plane cables and a composite deck. The curved
deck has a centreline length of 231 m, with two different side
spans and 9 cables supporting each side span.
memorable landmark and played a determining role in the
conceptual and executive design of the bridge. The tower is
about 75 m high and is characterized by a complex geometric
layout, where both the base and the height of the triangular
cross section are varying along the inclined longitudinal axis.
Figure 16a shows the accelerometers and radar position in
the test of the stay cables on Mestre side. The radar was
placed at the cross-section of the deck that is vertically
supported by the basement of the tower and inclined 55°
upward; a similar set-up was adopted in testing the array of
stay cables of the opposite (Venice) side of the bridge. In both
tests, time series of 3000 s were simultaneously collected by
the accelerometers and the radar sensor, at rate of 200 Hz.
Figure 16a also shows the angle of transmission covered by
the main lobe of the antenna in the vertical plane. Due to the
cone-shaped emission of the sensor, notwithstanding the
slightly spatial arrangement of the cables of each array, all the
cables are clearly detected and identified in the range profiles.
Figure 16b shows the range profile of the scenario on the
Mestre side, which is characterized by the presence of nine
well defined peaks clearly identifying the position of the stay
cables in the array.
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011
(a)
(b)
Figure 16. Dynamic survey of the array of stay cables on
Mestre side: (a) accelerometers and radar position; (b) range
profile of the test scenario.
(a) accelerometer
(b) microwave interferometer
Figure 17. Auto-spectra of (a) acceleration data and (b)
displacement data measured on stay cable 9 (Mestre side).
Figure 17 shows the auto-spectral densities (ASD) of the
ambient responses acquired, by using the two measurement
systems, on the longer cable of the Mestre-side array.
Although the ASDs of Figure 17 are associated to different
mechanical quantities measured (acceleration and displace-
ment) and to different points of the stay cable, the spectral
plots clearly highlight that:
• a large number of local resonant frequencies of the cables
are identified from radar data and these natural
frequencies are in excellent agreement with the ones
obtained from accelerometer;
• the number of frequencies identified from radar data is
large enough to establish if the cables behave as a taut
string or deviate from a taut string. Hence, reliable
estimate of the cable tensions can be retrieved from the
101
identified natural frequencies as well.
It is worth underlining that similar results, in terms of
number and agreement of natural frequencies, have been
obtained for all the stay cables of the two arrays, with the
exception of the two shorter ones (cables 1-2 in Figure 16a).
For the shorter stays, the radar technique detected the lower 3-
4 local natural frequencies only, whereas the accelerometers
(probably as a consequence of their position) provided a larger
number of cable frequencies.
Figure 18. View of the bridge crossing the Oglio river.
Figure 19. Elevation view of the bridge and radar position in
the test of forestays (dimensions in m).
5.2 Dynamic monitoring of the forestays of the cable-
stayed bridge crossing the Oglio river
Two ambient vibration tests were carried out on the forestays
of the cable-stayed bridge crossing the river Oglio between
the towns of Bordolano and Quinzano (Figure 18), about 70
km far from Milan. The tests, performed in November 2008
and in November 2009, were aimed at investigating the
repeatability of radar survey with SHM purposes.
The investigated bridge consists of a steel-composite deck,
double-plane cables and two inclined concrete towers. The
deck, 70 m long, consists of a steel grid of 4 girders framed by
12 floor beams; girders and floor beams are all composite
with a 30 cm reinforced concrete slab. The cast-in-place
concrete towers are 35.65 m high and each consists of an
inclined, varying width, concrete leg bearing an upper steel
device providing the upper anchorage for the stay-cables; two
arrays of 3 forestays and 3 backstays converge at the top of
each tower.
The dynamic characteristics of the bridge were well-known
since ambient vibration tests were conducted in Spring 2004
by the Vibration Laboratory of L’Aquila University [23] and
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 102

in July 2007 by the VIBLAB (Laboratory of Vibrations and (a)

Dynamic Monitoring of Structures) of Politecnico di Milano;
in these tests, 10 global modes of the bridge were identified in
the frequency range 0−10 Hz.
The deflection response of the two arrays of cables to wind
and traffic excitation was quickly and safely acquired by
positioning the microwave interferometer on the basement of
the upstream-side and downstream-side tower, as shown in
Figure 19 and in the picture of Figure 5.
The range profiles of the test scenarios in the two tests are
presented in Figures 20a-b. Since the test scenario on the two
sides was practically the same in the two tests, the radar image
profiles are very similar and each range profile exhibits three
well defined peaks, occurring at the expected distance from (b)
the sensor (Figure 19) and clearly identifying the position in
range of the cables.
For each array, 3000 s of radar data were acquired at a rate
of 200 Hz in the two tests.
Figure 21 shows the ASDs of the deflection response of the
upstream and downstream forestays. The spectral plots in
Figure 21 are a synthesis of the frequency content present on
each cable in the tests performed in 2008 and 2009, and
allowed the identification of several local resonant
frequencies, marked with the vertical dashed lines, in the
frequency range of analysis (0–25 Hz). The inspection of the
ASDs in Figure 21 clearly highlights that:
• the local natural frequencies of each stay cable are Figure 20. Range profiles of the test scenarios (2008 and
practically equal in the two tests; 2009) on: (a) upstream side; (b) downstream side.

(a) Stay cable S1U (b) Stay cable S1D

(c) Stay cable S2U (d) Stay cable S2D

(e) Stay cable S3U (f) Stay cable S3D

Figure 21. Auto-spectra of the displacement data collected in November 2008 and November 2009 on the bridge forestays.
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 103

Table 3. Tensions in the forestays of the cable-stayed bridge obtained from radar measurements (November 2008).

T(f1) T(f2) T(f3) T(f4) T(f5) T(f6) T(f7) Average

Stay cable (kN) (kN) (kN) (kN) (kN) (kN) (kN) (kN)
S1U 2704 2692 2712 2716 2722 2716 2715 2711
S1D 2655 2654 2671 2670 2674 2662 2657 2663
S2U 2923 2943 2924 2924 2939 2945 2936 2933
S2D 3003 2982 2949 2982 2986 2982 2995 2983
S3U 4054 4052 4073 4098 4113 4113 4120 4089
S3D 3990 3997 4031 4037 4039 4062 4063 4031

• the natural frequencies of the corresponding cables on the
opposite sides (S1U–S1D, S2U–S2D and S3U–S3D) are almost
equal;
• the response of each cable is characterized by a large
number of equally spaced and well-defined peaks so that
the tension forces can be computed from the cable natural
frequencies using the taut string model (8);
• the peaks of the ASDs placed at 1.06, 2.18, 4.25 and 6.03
Hz correspond to the global natural frequencies of the
bridge, identified in the previous dynamic survey of the
structure [23].
Finally, the application of the taut string model (8) to the
natural frequencies identified in 2008 leads to values of cable
tensions summarized in Table 3 and very close to the design
values.
6 CONCLUSIONS
An innovative radar technology, developed for remote
measurements of deflections on bridges and large structures in
both static and dynamic conditions, has been presented and
discussed in the paper.
The remote sensing technology, based on the combined use
of microwave interferometry and high resolution waveforms,
has been implemented in a portable equipment exhibiting
various advantages with respect to contact sensors and, at the
same time, providing a direct measurement of displacements,
which is of utmost importance in the in-service monitoring of
structures. The advantages of microwave remote sensing
include the simultaneous monitoring of several targets within
the sensor applicable distance, independence of daylight and
weather, high accuracy and spatial resolution, portability and
quick set-up time. On the other hand, obvious issues are
related to the 1-D imaging capabilities, not always easy
localization of measurement points (geo-referencing of target
points), and relative displacements in line of sight only. When
a radar-based survey is performed, these issues have to be
considered and properly addressed through a careful planning
of the experimental survey.
The second part of the paper, aimed at exemplifying the
practical use of the radar interferometer in dynamic tests of
full-scale bridges and including the extensive comparison with
conventional measurement techniques, provides the evidence
for the following conclusions:
1. the radar-based measurements (in terms of deflection and
velocity) generally exhibit an excellent agreement with
the ones recorded by conventional sensors;
2. an excellent agreement was found between the modal
parameters (resonant frequencies and mode shapes)
identified from radar data and from data obtained with
conventional accelerometers;
3. the radar technique turns out to be especially suitable to
vibration survey and SHM of stay cables, since it allows
to simultaneously measure the dynamic response of
several stay cables and provides measurements of high
level of accuracy in terms of identification of natural
frequencies.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to commemorate Prof. F. Martinez y
Cabrera, great Italian Scholar of Bridge Engineering at
Politecnico di Milano and designer of the cable-stayed bridge
over the Oglio river.
The support of IDS (Ingegneria Dei Sistemi, Pisa, Italy) in
supplying the IBIS-S radar sensor employed in the tests is
gratefully acknowledged.
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