• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.243-262
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• 2015

Optimal sensor placement (OSP) is a critical issue in construction and implementation of a sophisticated structural health monitoring (SHM) system. The uncertainties in the identified structural parameters based on the measured data may dramatically reduce the reliability of the condition evaluation results. In this paper, the information entropy, which provides an uncertainty metric for the identified structural parameters, is adopted as the performance measure for a sensor configuration, and the OSP problem is formulated as the multi-objective optimization problem of extracting the Pareto optimal sensor configurations that simultaneously minimize the appropriately defined information entropy indices. The nondirective movement glowworm swarm optimization (NMGSO) algorithm (based on the basic glowworm swarm optimization (GSO) algorithm) is proposed for identifying the effective Pareto optimal sensor configurations. The one-dimensional binary coding system is introduced to code the glowworms instead of the real vector coding method. The Hamming distance is employed to describe the divergence of different glowworms. The luciferin level of the glowworm is defined as a function of the rank value (RV) and the crowding distance (CD), which are deduced by non-dominated sorting. In addition, nondirective movement is developed to relocate the glowworms. A numerical simulation of a long-span suspension bridge is performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the NMGSO algorithm. The results indicate that the NMGSO algorithm is capable of capturing the Pareto optimal sensor configurations with high accuracy and efficiency.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.393-407
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• 2023

To assess structural condition in a non-destructive manner, computer vision-based structural health monitoring (SHM) has become a focus. Compared to traditional contact-type sensors, the advantages of computer vision-based measurement systems include lower installation costs and broader measurement areas. In this study, we propose a novel computer vision-based vibration measurement and coarse-to-fine damage assessment method for truss bridges. First, a deep learning model FairMOT is introduced to track the regions of interest (ROIs) that include joints to enhance the automation performance compared with traditional target tracking algorithms. To calculate the displacement of the tracked ROIs accurately, a normalized cross-correlation method is adopted to fine-tune the offset, while the Harris corner matching is utilized to correct the vibration displacement errors caused by the non-parallel between the truss plane and the image plane. Then, based on the advantages of the stochastic damage locating vector (SDLV) and Bayesian inference-based stochastic model updating (BI-SMU), they are combined to achieve the coarse-to-fine localization of the truss bridge's damaged elements. Finally, the severity quantification of the damaged components is performed by the BI-SMU. The experiment results show that the proposed method can accurately recognize the vibration displacement and evaluate the structural damage.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.59-80
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• 2022

In the present study, the objective is to detect the structural damages using the responses obtained from the sensors at the optimal location under uncertainty conditions. Reducing the error rate in damage detection process due to responses' noise is an important goal in this study. In the proposed algorithm for optimal sensor placement, the noise of responses recorded from the sensors is initially reduced using the principal component analysis. Afterward, the optimal sensor placement is obtained by the damage detection equation based sensitivity analysis. The sensors are placed on degrees of freedom corresponding to the minimum error rate in structural damage detection through this procedure. The efficiency of the proposed method is studied on a truss bridge, a space dome, a double-layer grid as well as a three-story experimental frame structure and the results are compared. Moreover, the performance of the suggested method is compared with three other algorithms of Average Driving Point Residue (ADPR), Effective Independence (EI) method, and a mass weighting version of EI. In the examples, young's modulus, density, and cross-sectional areas of the elements are considered as uncertainty parameters. Ultimately, the results have demonstrated that the presented algorithm under uncertainty conditions represents a high accuracy to obtain the optimal sensor placement in the structures.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.173-187
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• 2018

Performance evaluation of RC frame building by nonlinear static pushover analysis that accounts for elastic and post elastic behavior is becoming very popular as a valid decision making tool in seismic hazard resistant designs. Available literature suggests great amount of interest has shown by researchers in suggesting refinements to geometric and material modelling to bridge the gap between analytical predictions and observed performances. Notwithstanding the attempts gaps still exists. Sequence of plastic hinge formation which has great influence on pushover analysis results is an area less investigated. This paper attempts to highlight the importance of hinge sequence considerations to make analysis results more meaningful. Variation in analysis results due to different hinge sequences have been quantified, compared and bounds on analysis results have been presented.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.105-128
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• 2014

The stochastic damage locating vector (SDLV) method has been studied extensively in recent years because of its potential to determine the location of damage in structures without the need for measuring the input excitation. The SDLV method has been shown to be a particularly useful tool for damage localization in steel truss bridges through numerical simulation and experimental validation. However, several issues still need clarification. For example, two methods have been suggested for determining the observation matrix C identified for the structural system; yet little guidance has been provided regarding the conditions under which the respective formulations should be used. Additionally, the specific layout of the sensors to achieve effective performance with the SDLV method and the associated relationship to the specific type of truss structure have yet to be explored. Moreover, how the location of truss members influences the damage localization results should be studied. In this paper, these three issues are first investigated through numerical simulation and subsequently the main results are validated experimentally. The results of this paper provide guidance on the effective use of the SDLV method.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.153-166
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• 2022

Identifying fine cracks in steel bridge facilities is a challenging task of structural health monitoring (SHM). This study proposed an end-to-end crack image segmentation framework based on a one-step Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for pixel-level object recognition with high accuracy. To particularly address the challenges arising from small object detection in complex background, efforts were made in loss function selection aiming at sample imbalance and module modification in order to improve the generalization ability on complicated images. Specifically, loss functions were compared among alternatives including the Binary Cross Entropy (BCE), Focal, Tversky and Dice loss, with the last three specialized for biased sample distribution. Structural modifications with dilated convolution, Spatial Pyramid Pooling (SPP) and Feature Pyramid Network (FPN) were also performed to form a new backbone termed CrackDet. Models of various loss functions and feature extraction modules were trained on crack images and tested on full-scale images collected on steel box girders. The CNN model incorporated the classic U-Net as its backbone, and Dice loss as its loss function achieved the highest mean Intersection-over-Union (mIoU) of 0.7571 on full-scale pictures. In contrast, the best performance on cropped crack images was achieved by integrating CrackDet with Dice loss at a mIoU of 0.7670.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.23-32
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• 2020

The compression sensing technology, CAFB, was developed to obtain the raw signal of the target structure by compressing it into a signal of the intended frequency range. At this point, for compression sensing, the CAFB can be optimized for various reference signals depending on the desired frequency range of the target structure. In addition, optimized CAFB should be able to efficiently compress the effective structural answers of the target structure even in sudden/dangerous conditions such as earthquakes. In this paper, the targeted frequency range for efficient structural integrity monitoring of relatively flexible structures was set below 10Hz, and the optimization method of CAFB for this purpose and the seismic response performance of CAFB in seismic conditions were evaluated experimentally. To this end, in this paper, CAFB was first optimized using Kobe seismic waveform, and embedded it in its own wireless IDAQ system. In addition, seismic response tests were conducted on two span bridges using Kobe seismic waveform. Finally, using an IDAQ system with built-in CAFB, the seismic response of the two-span bridge was wirelessly obtained, and the compression signal obtained was cross-referenced with the raw signal. From the results of the experiment, the compression signal showed excellent response performance and data compression effects in relation to the raw signal, and CAFB was able to effectively compress and sensitize the effective structural response of the structure even in seismic situations. Finally, in this paper, the optimization method of CAFB was presented to suit the intended frequency range (less than 10Hz), and CAFB proved to be an economical and efficient data compression sensing technology for instrumentation-monitoring of seismic conditions.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.465-482
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• 2024

In this paper, a robust wireless sensor network configuration design method is proposed to develop the optimal configuration under the consideration of sensor failure and energy consumption. A malfunctioned sensor in a wireless sensor network may lead to data transmission failure of the entire sensing cluster, inducing severe deterioration in system identification performance. The proposed method determines a wireless sensor network configuration that is robust against sensor failure. By utilizing Bayesian inference, we introduce a robust indicator to evaluate the impact on estimation accuracy of sensor configurations with various malfunctioned sensors. Moreover, a network formation strategy is proposed to optimize the energy efficiency of the wireless sensor network configuration. Therefore, the resultant robust wireless sensor network configuration can operate with the minimum energy consumption while the measurement information of the sensor network with malfunctioned sensors can be guaranteed. The proposed method is illustrated by designing the robust wireless sensor network configurations of a truss model and a bridge model.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.17-34
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• 2022

For steel structures, fatigue cracks are critical damage induced by long-term cycle loading and distortion effects. Vision-based crack detection can be a solution to ensure structural integrity and performance by continuous monitoring and non-destructive assessment. A critical issue is to distinguish cracks from other features in captured images which possibly consist of complex backgrounds such as handwritings and marks, which were made to record crack patterns and lengths during periodic visual inspections. This study presents a parametric study on image-based crack identification for orthotropic steel bridge decks using captured images with complicated backgrounds. Firstly, a framework for vision-based crack segmentation using the atrous convolution-based Deeplapv3+ network (ACDN) is designed. Secondly, features on crack images are labeled to build three databanks by consideration of objects in the backgrounds. Thirdly, evaluation metrics computed from the trained ACDN models are utilized to evaluate the effects of obstacles on crack detection results. Finally, various training parameters, including image sizes, hyper-parameters, and the number of training images, are optimized for the ACDN model of crack detection. The result demonstrated that fatigue cracks could be identified by the trained ACDN models, and the accuracy of the crack-detection result was improved by optimizing the training parameters. It enables the applicability of the vision-based technique for early detecting tiny fatigue cracks in steel structures.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.115-120
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• 2018

This paper introduces a magnetic hysteresis monitoring result to apply an EM sensing technique for estimating tensile force of PSC girder to various class of PS tendon. The tensile force of PS tendon is a very important factor in the performance evaluation of PSC bridges. However, in this time, the tensile force was just measured only during construction and it does not monitored after construction. To measure the tensile force of PS tendons, the EM sensing based NDT method was developed but the proposed method cannot be applied to various class of PS tendons. Thus this study performed the magnetic hysteresis measurement according to the tensile force for class B, C and D PS tendons through experimental study. The specific tensile forces(50, 100, 150, 180kN) were induced to the each specimens and the magnetic hysteresis curve was measured at each point. The permeability of specimens were gradually decreased according to increase of tensile force. Especially, the slopes of permeability variation of class B and C were similar while that of class D was different.