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Determination of allowable free span length plays a crucial role in design of offshore pipelines. The seabed intervention cost and safety of an offshore pipelines project are largely influenced by pipelines free spanning during the project life time. Different criteria are proposed by both the current designing guidelines and researchers there is however lack of comprehensive assessment of independent parameters affects the design length of free span. In this note, it is intended to investigate the effects of seabed formation along with axial force on Natural Frequency of offshore pipelines. Based on this assessment a new simple formula is proposed. Finally, to evaluate the result of this study, the allowable free span length of Qeshem Island pipelines is calculated as a case study and compared with those of the DNV (1998) and ABS (2001) guidelines and the modal analysis.

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 Investigations on vibration behaviors of railway track systems were attempted in this research. This was made by conducting a comprehensive field investigation into the free vibration of track systems and response of tracks to train moving loads. In-situ modal analysis was used in a railway track field as an efficient method of investigating dynamic properties of railway track systems. Natural frequencies and mode shapes of the track system in different insitu track conditions were obtained for the fist time. The sensitivity of the natural frequencies of the track to the types of sleepers, fastening systems, ballast conditions, and rail joints were studied. Efficiency of rail welded joints in CWR tracks and the effects of replacing timber sleepers with concrete sleepers on dynamic behavior of a track were investigated. Advantages of flexible sleeper fastening system from the aspects of serviceability and passenger riding comfort were discussed. The effects of the track accumulative loading as a main indicator of ballast degradation on track dynamic behavior were studied. Rail deflections were calculated by using auto-spectra obtained from vibrations of the track under trainloads, leading to the development of a new mathematical expression for the calculation of the rail dynamic amplification factor.

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This paper addresses the ambient vibration based finite element model updating of long span reinforced concrete highway bridges. The procedure includes ambient vibration tests under operational conditions, finite element modeling using special software and finite element model updating using some uncertain parameters. Birecik Highway Bridge located on the 81stkm of Şanlıurfa-Gaziantep state highway over Fırat River in Turkey is selected as a case study. Because of the fact that the bridge is the sole in this part of Fırat, it has a major logistical importance. The structural carrier system of the bridge consists of two main parts: Arch and Beam Compartments. In this part of the paper, the beam compartment is investigated. Three dimensional finite element model of the beam compartment of the bridge is constituted using SAP2000 software to determine the dynamic characteristics analytically. Operational Modal Analysis method is used to extract dynamic characteristics of the beam compartment by using Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition method. Analytically and experimentally identified dynamic characteristic are compared with each other and finite element model of the beam compartment of the bridge is updated by changing of some uncertain parameters such as section properties, damages, boundary conditions and material properties to reduce the differences between the results. It is demonstrated that the ambient vibration measurements are enough to identify the most significant modes of long span highway bridges. Maximum differences between the natural frequencies are reduced averagely from %46.7 to %2.39 by model updating. Also, a good harmony is found between mode shapes after finite element model updating.