PSI - Issue 78

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ScienceDirect

Procedia Structural Integrity 78 (2026) 1767–1774

XX ANIDIS Conference Scaled-down benchmark railway bridge model for vibration-based damage identification Arash Rahimi a *, Andy Duarte Taño b , Ilaria Venanzi a , Enrique García-Macías b , Laura Ierimonti a , Filippo Ubertini a

a University of Perugia,Perugia, 06125, Italy b University of Granada, Granda, 18071, Spain

© 2025 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of XX ANIDIS Conference organizers Keywords: Benchmark Case Study; Damage Identification; Railway Bridge Dynamics; Scaled-Down Bridge Model. Abstract This study presents the design and experimental testing of a scaled-down steel railway bridge model for testing vibration-based damage identification algorithms. This model represents a 2 m-long, three-span continuous bridge, crossed by a remotely controlled tandem vehicle simulating train load effects. Particular attention has been paid to properly define the boundary conditions: fixed at one abutment and roller-pin supports at intermediate piers and the second abutment. Custom support devices with arrays of linear springs have been designed to control both vertical and torsional stiffness. The model and the vehicle are densely instrumented using low-cost MEMS accelerometers. The experimental setup enables testing across a wide range of operational conditions (i.e., train speed and mass) and damage scenarios (i.e., losses of vertical and torsional stiffness of the supports, and deck-localized damage simulated by point masses). This work reports the generation of an extensive monitoring database, along with the finite element modelling and inverse calibration of the physical model. A detailed analysis and discussion is provided on the impacts of different damage scenarios on both the modal properties and the transient dynamic response under train loading. The resulting database supports the evaluation of various damage identification algorithms, promoting their future implementation in real-world settings

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 346 377 3182 E-mail address: Arash.rahimi@dottorandi.unipg.it

2452-3216 © 2025 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of XX ANIDIS Conference organizers 10.1016/j.prostr.2025.12.225