Field application of elasto-magnetic stress sensors for monitoring of cable tension force in cable-stayed bridges

Recently, a novel stress sensor, which utilizes the elasto-magnetic (EM) effect of ferromagnetic materials, has been developed to measure stress in steel cables and wires. In this study, the effectiveness of this EM based stress sensors for monitoring of the cable tension force of a real scale cable-stayed bridge was investigated. Two EM stress sensors were installed on two selected multi-strand cables in Hwa-Myung Bridge, Busan, South Korea. Conventional lift-off test was conducted to obtain reference cable tension forces of two test cables. The reference forces were used to calibrate and validate cable tension force measurements from the EM sensors. Tension force variations of two test cables during the second tensioning work on Hwa-Myung Bridge were monitored using the EM sensors. Numerical simulations were conducted to compare and verify the monitoring results. Based on the results, the effectiveness of EM sensors for accurate field monitoring of the cable tension force of cable-stayed bridge is discussed.