• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.555-576
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• 2015

The large number of long-span bridges constructed in China motivates the applications of structural health monitoring (SHM) technology. Many bridges have been equipped with sophisticated SHM systems in the mainland of China and in Hong Kong of China. Recently, SHM technology has been extended to field test systems. In this view, SHM can serve as a tool to develop the methods of life-cycle performance design, evaluation, maintenance and management of bridges; to develop new structural analysis methods through validation and feedback from SHM results; and to understand the behavior of bridges under natural and man-made disasters, rapidly assess the damage and loss of structures over large regions after disasters, e.g., earthquake, typhoon, flood, etc. It is hoped that combining analytical methods, numerical simulation, small-scale tests and accelerated durability tests with SHM could become the main engine driving the development of bridge engineering. This paper demonstrates the above viewpoint.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.673-687
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• 2017

A three-dimensional; structural health monitoring; vertical; planar; cross-sample entropy; multiscaleA three-dimensional structural health monitoring (SHM) system based on multiscale entropy (MSE) and multiscale cross-sample entropy (MSCE) is proposed in this paper. The damage condition of a structure is rapidly screened through MSE analysis by measuring the ambient vibration signal on the roof of the structure. Subsequently, the vertical damage location is evaluated by analyzing individual signals on different floors through vertical MSCE analysis. The results are quantified using the vertical damage index (DI). Planar MSCE analysis is applied to detect the damage orientation of damaged floors by analyzing the biaxial signals in four directions on each damaged floor. The results are physically quantified using the planar DI. With progressive vertical and planar analysis methods, the damaged floors and damage locations can be accurately and efficiently diagnosed. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed system, performance evaluation was conducted on a three-dimensional seven-story steel structure. According to the results, the damage condition and elevation were reliably detected. Moreover, the damage location was efficiently quantified by the DI. Average accuracy rates of 93% (vertical) and 91% (planar) were achieved through the proposed DI method. A reference measurement of the current stage can initially launch the SHM system; therefore, structural damage can be reliably detected after major earthquakes.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.283-292
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• 2021

In this study, a structural health monitoring system for cable-stayed bridges is developed. In the system, condition assessment of the structure is performed based on measured records from seismic accelerometers. Response indices are defined to monitor structural safety and serviceability and derived from the measured acceleration data. The derivation process of the indices is structured to follow the transformation from the raw data to the outcome. The process includes noise filtering, baseline correction, numerical integration, and calculation of relative differences. The system is packed as a condition assessment program, which consists of four major processes of the structural health evaluation: (i) format conversion of the raw data, (ii) noise filtering, (iii) generation of response indices, and (iv) condition evaluation. An example set of limit states is presented to evaluate the structural condition of the test-bed and cable-stayed bridge.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.166-171
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• 2010

Wired monitoring systems have been used for damage detection and dynamic analysis of large structures(bridges, dams, plants, etc.). However, the real-world applications still remain limited, mainly due to time and cost issues inherent to wired systems. In recent years, an increasing number of researchers have adopted WSN(wireless sensor network) technologies to the field of SHM(structural health monitoring). Accurate time synchronization is most critical for the wireless approach to be feasible for SHM purpose, along with sufficient wireless bandwidth and highly precise measuring resolution. To satisfy technical criteria stated above, a wireless vibration monitoring system that uses high-precision MEMS(micro-electro-mechanical system) sensors and A/D convertor is discussed in detail. It was found experimentally that the level of time synchronization fell within $200\;{\mu}sec$.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.56-64
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• 2008

To maintain effectively the functionality of major railroad facilities such as bridges, identifying and evaluating damage in a structure and taking appropriate action via continuous structural health monitoring are very important. However, most damage identification methods for structural health monitoring developed to date utilize modal domain responses which inevitably contain errors in transforming the domain of responses. In this paper, a damage identification method using time-domain operational deflection shapes is proposed. Since the proposed method utilizes time-domain responses, the error in the process of transformation to response domain can be avoided, and the accuracy of structural health evaluation can be improved. The feasibility of the proposed method is verified via a numerical example of a simple bridge structure.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.1545-1561
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• 2008

Among all transportations, railway transports have been promisingly offering excellent energy conservation and travelling time. Inevitably, they become a main role in not only transport goods but also passengers. With leap in development of technology, trains have tremendously enhanced their services in terms of speed, accessibility and comfort. However, the safety and ride quality have become a main issue as the train speed increased. The higher speeds have led the structural dynamics and health must be monitored from time to time to ensure that they are in good condition to provide reliable ride. Among all monitoring systems, the structural health monitoring (SHM) systems are imperative important due to its capability of in-situ monitoring and inherently reduce the maintenance frequencies and the huge associated cost. In this paper, SHM systems and the related non-destructive test and evaluation methods were discussed. The types of damages related to train vehicles as well as the damage hot spots are also included in this paper.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.91 no.2
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• pp.163-175
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• 2024

The objective of this research is to improve public safety in civil engineering by recognizing fractures in concrete structures quickly and correctly. The study offers a new crack detection method based on advanced image processing and machine learning techniques, specifically transfer learning with convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Four pre-trained models (VGG16, AlexNet, ResNet18, and DenseNet161) were fine-tuned to detect fractures in concrete surfaces. These models constantly produced accuracy rates greater than 80%, showing their ability to automate fracture identification and potentially reduce structural failure costs. Furthermore, the study expands its scope beyond crack detection to identify concrete health, using a dataset with a wide range of surface defects and anomalies including cracks. Notably, using VGG16, which was chosen as the most effective network architecture from the first phase, the study achieves excellent accuracy in classifying concrete health, demonstrating the model's satisfactorily performance even in more complex scenarios.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.615-632
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• 2008

The bridge health monitoring has become an important research topic in conjunction with damage assessment and safety evaluation of structures owing to the improvement of structural modeling techniques incorporating response measurements and the advancements in signal analysis and information processing capabilities. The bridge monitoring systems are generally composed of hardwares such as sensors, data acquisition equipment, data transmission systems, etc, and softwares such as signal processing, damage assessment, display and management, etc. In this paper, the research and development(R&D) activities on the information processing for structural health monitoring of bridges are reviewed. After a brief introduction to the process of bridge health monitoring, various information processing techniques including various signal processing and damage detection algorithms are introduced in detail. Several challenges addressing critical issues in the current bridge health monitoring system and future R&D activities are discussed.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.737-744
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• 2021

In this study, structural health monitoring (SHM) methods of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs) were investigated using electrical resistance. The developed sensing technique monitored electrical resistance in accordance with the impact damage of a CFRP. The changes in electrical resistances with multiple electrode sets enabled SHM without extra sensors so that this technique can be called self-sensing. Moreover, this study proposed electrodes only at peripheral side of a structure to minimize the number of electrodes compared to those in an array which has square number of sensors as the sensing area increases. For the intensive investigation, electromechanical sensitivity in terms of electrode distance was analyzed and optimized under drop weight impact testing. Then, SHM methods with electrodes in an array and electrodes in peripheral edges were comparatively investigated. The developed methods successfully localized impact damages into 2D coordinates. Furthermore, damage severity can be shown with a damage map by calculating electrical resistance change ratio. Therefore, structural health self-sensing system using electrical resistance was successfully developed with the minimum number of electrodes.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.99-117
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• 2015

The Stonecutters Bridge (SCB) in Hong Kong is the third-longest cable-stayed bridge in the world with a main span stretching 1,018 m between two 298 m high single-leg tapering composite towers. A Wind and Structural Health Monitoring System (WASHMS) is being implemented on SCB by the Highways Department of The Hong Kong SAR Government, and the SCB-WASHMS is composed of more than 1,300 sensors in 15 types. In order to establish a linkage between structural health monitoring and maintenance management, a Structural Health Rating System (SHRS) with relevant rating tools and indices is devised. On the basis of a 3D space frame finite element model (FEM) of SCB and model updating, this paper presents the development of an SHR-oriented 3D multi-scale FEM for the purpose of load-resistance analysis and damage evaluation in structural element level, including modeling, refinement and validation of the multi-scale FEM. The refined 3D structural segments at deck and towers are established in critical segment positions corresponding to maximum cable forces. The components in the critical segment region are modeled as a full 3D FEM and fitted into the 3D space frame FEM. The boundary conditions between beam and shell elements are performed conforming to equivalent stiffness, effective mass and compatibility of deformation. The 3D multi-scale FEM is verified by the in-situ measured dynamic characteristics and static response. A good agreement between the FEM and measurement results indicates that the 3D multi-scale FEM is precise and efficient for WASHMS and SHRS of SCB. In addition, stress distribution and concentration of the critical segments in the 3D multi-scale FEM under temperature loads, static wind loads and equivalent seismic loads are investigated. Stress concentration elements under equivalent seismic loads exist in the anchor zone in steel/concrete beam and the anchor plate edge in steel anchor box of the towers.