• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.139-150
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• 2017

The structural strain plays a significant role in structural condition assessment of in-service bridges in terms of structural bearing capacity, structural reliability level and entire safety redundancy. Therefore, it has been one of the most important parameters concerned by researchers and engineers engaged in structural health monitoring (SHM) practices. In this paper, an SHM system instrumented on the Jiubao Bridge located in Hangzhou, China is firstly introduced. This system involves nine subsystems and has been continuously operated for five years since 2012. As part of the SHM system, a total of 166 fiber Bragg grating (FBG) strain sensors are installed on the bridge to measure the dynamic strain responses of key structural components. Based on the strain monitoring data acquired in recent two years, the strain-based structural condition assessment of the Jiubao Bridge is carried out. The wavelet multi-resolution algorithm is applied to separate the temperature effect from the raw strain data. The obtained strain data under the normal traffic and wind condition and under the typhoon condition are examined for structural safety evaluation. The structural condition rating of the bridge in accordance with the AASHTO specification for condition evaluation and load and resistance factor rating of highway bridges is performed by use of the processed strain data in combination with finite element analysis. The analysis framework presented in this study can be used as a reference for facilitating the assessment, inspection and maintenance activities of in-service bridges instrumented with long-term SHM system.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.361-368
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• 2020

The authors developed a new type of steel slit shear wall (SSSW) having the function of structural condition assessment through visually inspecting the out-of-plane deformation of the designed tapered links subjected to lateral deformation. To facilitate its practical application, this paper studies how to design dimensions of the tapered links. Two parameters, the width-to-thickness ratio of the tapered links and steel yield stress, were studied. The performance of structural condition assessment was affected by both parameters with the width-to-thickness ratio being the controlling one. Through both numerical and experimental study, the designed width-to-thickness ratio of tapered links for different levels of structural condition assessment was established considering the effect of different steel grades used. In practice, the dimensions of tapered links can be determined following the design equation provided. Finally, a design procedure for the proposed SSSW system is provided.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.5_1
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• pp.621-635
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• 2023

The assessment of structural condition is a crucial process for evaluating its usability and determining the diagnostic cycle. The currently employed manpower-based methods suffer from issues related to safety, efficiency, and objectivity. To address these concerns, research based on deep learning using images is being conducted. However, acquiring structural damage data is challenging, making it difficult to construct a substantial amount of training data, thus limiting the effectiveness of deep learning-based condition assessment. In this study, we propose a foundation model-based 2-step structural damage analysis to overcome the lack of training data in image-based structural condition assessments. We subdivided the elements of structural condition assessment into instantiation and quantification. In the quantification step, we applied a foundation model for image segmentation. Our method demonstrated a 10%-point increase in mean intersection over union compared to conventional image segmentation techniques, with a notable 40%-point improvement in the case of rebar exposure. We anticipate that our proposed approach will enhance performance in domains where acquiring training data is challenging.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.69-97
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• 2016

Performance-based remaining life assessment of reinforced concrete bridge girders, subject to chloride-induced corrosion of reinforcement, is addressed in this paper. Towards this, a methodology that takes into consideration the human judgmental aspects in expert decision making regarding condition state assessment is proposed. The condition of the bridge girder is specified by the assignment of a condition state from a set of predefined condition states, considering both serviceability- and ultimate- limit states, and, the performance of the bridge girder is described using performability measure. A non-homogeneous Markov chain is used for modelling the stochastic evolution of condition state of the bridge girder with time. The thinking process of the expert in condition state assessment is modelled within a probabilistic framework using Brunswikian theory and probabilistic mental models. The remaining life is determined as the time over which the performance of the girder is above the required performance level. The usefulness of the methodology is illustrated through the remaining life assessment of a reinforced concrete T-beam bridge girder.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.381-395
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• 2009

The paper presents a case study in which the structural condition assessment of the East Bay bridge in Gibsonton, Florida is evaluated with the help of remote health monitoring techniques. The bridge is a four-span, continuous, deck-type reinforced concrete structure supported on prestressed pile bents, and is instrumented with smart Fiber Optic Sensors. The sensors used for remote health monitoring are the newly emerged Fabry-Perot (FP), and are both surface-mounted and embedded in the deck. The sensing system can be accessed remotely through fast Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL), which permits the evaluation of the bridge behavior under live traffic loads. The bridge was open to traffic since March 2005, and the collected structural data have been continuously analyzed since. The data revealed an increase in strain readings, which suggests a progression in damage. Recent visual observations also indicated the presence of longitudinal cracks along the bridge length. After the formation of these cracks, the sensors readings were analyzed and used to extrapolate the values of the maximum stresses at the crack location. The data obtained were also compared to initial design values of the bridge under factored gravity and live loads. The study showed that the proposed structural health monitoring technique proved to provide an efficient mean for condition assessment of bridge structures providing it is implemented and analyzed with care.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.767-788
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• 2015

A steel shear wall with double-tapered links and in-plane reference was developed for assisting the assessment of the structural condition of a building after an earthquake while maintaining the original role of the wall as a passive damper device. The double-tapered link subjected to in-plane shear deformation is designed to deform torsionally after the onset of local buckling and works as an indicator of the maximum shear deformation sustained by the shear wall during an earthquake. This paper first examines the effectiveness of double-tapered links in the assessment of the structural condition under various types of loading. A design procedure using a baseline incremental two-cycle loading protocol is verified numerically and experimentally. Meanwhile, in-plane reference links are introduced to double-tapered links and greatly enhance objectivity in the inspection of notable torsional deformation with the naked eye. Finally, a double-layer system, which consists of a layer with double-tapered links and a layer with rectangular links made of low-yield-point steel, is tested to demonstrate the feasibility of realizing both structural condition assessment and enhanced energy dissipation.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.61-68
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• 1998

It has become important to evaluate the qualitive reliability and condition assessment of existing structural systems in order to establish a rational program for repair and maintenance. Since most of if existing structural system may suffer from defect corrosion and damage, it is necessary to account for their effects in fuzzy reliability analysis, In this paper, an attempt is made to develope a reliability analysis for damaged structural systems using failure possibility theory. Damage state is specified in terms of linguistic valiables using natural language information and numerical information, which are defined by fuzzy sets. Using a subjective condition index of failure possibility and information of the damage state is introduced into the calculation of failure probability. The subjective condition index of quantitative and qualitative analysis method is newly proposed based on the fuzzy set operations, namely logical product, drastic product, logical sum and drastic sum

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.58-68
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• 2003

Capacity assessment of structural member must be ahead of the safety assessment of wooden traditional building. Capacity assessment of structural member has been dependent on empirical method with visual inspection even now. Safety assessment of building, however, can be more correct and reasonable provided non-destructive evaluation technique that scientific and logic would be used to evaluate the capacity of structural member. For that purpose, non-destructive evaluation technique was applied to column among many structural members of wooden traditional building to examine the possibility of capacity assessment of structural member. And then, those data will be used as a basic data for capacity assessment of structural member in a following study. Specially, deterioration progress levels of column according to exposed condition were measured. Similar results were obtained as compared with results of visual inspection, so there was a good possibility of application for non-destructive evaluation technique.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2010.04a
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• pp.238-241
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• 2010

This paper proposed an approach to integrate bridge condition assessment related information with a 3D bridge model to visualize bridge condition assessment information in the 3D bridge model. In this approach, bridge information model plays a centric role in the data access and realizes the integration of bridge initial design and historical bridge maintenance records. Behind the bridge information model is a rational database. After the system requirements for this approach, several IFC data model extensions are suggested.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.57-81
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• 2015

Water inrush and mud outburst always restricts the tunnel constructions in mountain area, which becomes a major geological barrier against the development of underground engineering. In view of the complex disaster-causing mechanism and difficult quantitative predictions of water inrush and mud outburst, several theoretical methods are adopted to realize dynamic assessment of water inrush in the progressive process of tunnel construction. Concerning both the geological condition and construction situation, eleven risk factors are quantitatively described and an assessment system is developed to evaluate the water inrush risk. In the static assessment, the weights of eight risk factors about the geological condition are determined using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Each factor is scored by experts and the synthesis scores are weighted. The risk level is ultimately determined based on the scoring outcome which is derived from the sum of products of weights and comprehensive scores. In the secondary assessment, the eight risk factors in static assessment and three factors about construction situation are quantitatively analyzed using fuzzy evaluation method. Subordinate levels and weight of factors are prepared and then used to calculate the comprehensive subordinate degree and risk level. In the dynamic assessment, the classical field of the eleven risk factors is normalized by using the extension evaluation method. From the input of the matter-element, weights of risk factors are determined and correlation analysis is carried out to determine the risk level. This system has been applied to the dynamic assessment of water inrush during construction of the Yuanliangshan tunnel of Yuhuai Railway. The assessment results are consistent with the actual excavation, which verifies the rationality and feasibility of the software. The developed system is believed capable to be back-up and applied for risk assessment of water inrush in the underground engineering construction.