Structures and Infrastructures – serie

Load Testing of Bridges, featuring contributions from almost fifty authors from around the world across two interrelated volumes, deals with the practical aspects, the scientific developments, and the international views on the topic of load testing of bridges. Volume 12, Load Testing of Bridges: Current practice and Diagnostic Load Testing, starts with a background to bridge load testing, including the historical perspectives and evolutions, and the current codes and guidelines that are governing in countries around the world. The second part of the book deals with preparation, execution, and post-processing of load tests on bridges. The third part focuses on diagnostic load testing of bridges.This work will be of interest to researchers and academics in the field of civil/structural engineering, practicing engineers and road authorities worldwide.

Load Testing of Bridges, featuring contributions from almost fifty authors from around the world across two interrelated volumes, deals with the practical aspects, the scientific developments, and the international views on the topic of load testing of bridges. Volume 13, Load Testing of Bridges: Proof Load Testing and the Future of Load Testing, focuses first on proof load testing of bridges. It discusses the specific aspects of proof load testing during the preparation, execution, and post-processing of such a test (Part 1). The second part covers the testing of buildings. The third part discusses novel ideas regarding measurement techniques used for load testing. Methods using non-contact sensors, such as photography- and video-based measurement techniques are discussed. The fourth part discusses load testing in the framework of reliability-based decision-making and in the framework of a bridge management program. The final part of the book summarizes the knowledge presented across the two volumes, as well as the remaining open questions for research, and provides practical recommendations for engineers carrying out load tests.This work will be of interest to researchers and academics in the field of civil/structural engineering, practicing engineers and road authorities worldwide.

Proper treatment of structural behavior under severe loading - such as the performance of a high-rise building during an earthquake - relies heavily on the use of probability-based analysis and decision-making tools. Proper application of these tools is significantly enhanced by a thorough understanding of the underlying theoretical and computational concepts as provided by this book.Detailing the computational aspects of stochastic analysis within the field of structural mechanics, this book first presents a few motivating examples that demonstrate the various random effects within the context of simple structural analysis models. It moreover briefly reviews the fundamental concepts from continuum mechanics and puts them in the perspective of modern numerical tools, such as the finite element method. More advanced topics are developed step by step while gradually increasing the complexity of the structural and probabilistic analyses.This volume is intended for structural analysts and advanced students who wish to explore the benefits of stochastic analysis. It will provide researchers and decision makers working on structural and infrastructural systems with the necessary probabilistic information needed for strategic developments in construction, inspection and maintenance.

Extensive amounts of operational data are generated over time by the health monitoring system of a structure’s management system, yet there are few analysis algorithms which can tell the exact working state of the structure on-line. Good maintenance engineers need to know the exact location and state of the structural components after an earthquake or some attack or accident involving the structure, possibly within a matter of hours, and the client also demands a rapid diagnosis of the structure before making decisions on any necessary remedial work. This book is devoted to the condition assessment of a structure under operational loading, with most of the illustrations related to a bridge deck under a group of moving vehicular loads. More generally, a wide variety of excitation forces can be exerted on a structure, from earthquake excitation, wind loading, vehicular loading or ambient excitation at the supports. Different algorithms may be used to enable real time identification with deterministic results on the state of the structure. This book also covers a group of damage-detection-oriented-models developed by the author, including a new decomposition of the system matrices of the beam element and plate element. Methods for extending the deterministic condition assessment to provide statistical information are also included. The methods and algorithms described can be implemented for the on-line condition assessment of a structure through model updating of the structure during the course of extreme loading such as an earthquake, or when under normal ambient excitation or operation excitation. Different sample structures are described and analysed, supplemented with major references.This leading-edge work will be especially useful for researchers and graduate students, and it is also heavily rooted in advanced engineering practice.Series: Structures and Infrastructures Series Structures and Infrastructures comprises advanced-level books dealing with the maintenance, management, and cost analysis of structures and infrastructures. Topics treated include research, development and application of the most advanced technologies for analyzing, predicting, and optimizing the performance of structures and infrastructures, such as buildings, bridges, dams, underground construction, offshore platforms, pipelines, naval vessels, ocean structures, and nuclear power plants, as well as airplanes, aerospace, and automotive structures. Themes featured are mathematical modeling, computer and experimental methods, practical applications in assessment and evaluation, construction and design for durability, decision making, deterioration modeling and aging, failure analysis, field testing, financial planning, inspection and diagnostics, life-cycle analysis and prediction, loads, maintenance strategies, management systems, nondestructive testing, maintenance and management optimization, specifications and codes, structural safety and reliability, system analysis, time-dependent performance, rehabilitation, repair, replacement, reliability and risk management, service life prediction, strengthening and whole life costing.

Uncertainties play a dominant role in the design and optimization of structures and infrastructures. In optimum design of structural systems due to variations of the material, manufacturing variations, variations of the external loads and modelling uncertainty, the parameters of a structure, a structural system and its environment are not given, fixed coefficients, but random variables with a certain probability distribution. The increasing necessity to solve complex problems in Structural Optimization, Structural Reliability and Probabilistic Mechanics, requires the development of new ideas, innovative methods and numerical tools for providing accurate numerical solutions in affordable computing times.This book presents the latest findings on structural optimization considering uncertainties. It contains selected contributions dealing with the use of probabilistic methods for the optimal design of different types of structures and various considerations of uncertainties. The first part is focused on reliability-based design optimization and the second part on robust design optimization. Comprising twenty-one, self-contained chapters by prominent authors in the field, it forms a complete collection of state-of-the-art theoretical advances and applications in the fields of structural optimization, structural reliability, and probabilistic computational mechanics. It is recommended to researchers, engineers, and students in civil, mechanical, naval and aerospace engineering and to professionals working on complicated costs-effective design problems.

The increasing necessity to solve complex problems in Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering requires the development of new ideas, innovative methods and numerical tools for providing accurate numerical solutions in affordable computing times. This book presents the latest scientific developments in Computational Dynamics, Stochastic Dynamics, Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering in thirty-five self-contained contributions. The selected state-of-the-art chapters are revised and extended versions of the papers which were presented as plenary, semi-plenary and keynote lectures at the thematic COMPDYN 2007 Conference.This volume will benefit researchers and engineering professionals working on structural dynamics, earthquake engineering and computational mechanics. Readers will get acquainted with advanced computational methods and software tools, which can assist them in tackling complex problems in dynamic/seismic analysis and design. Moreover, it will raise the awareness of important application areas and the social impact of the scientific and technical fields involved.

Rapid advances in computational methods and computer capabilities have led to a new generation of structural identification strategies. Robust and efficient methods have successfully been developed on the basis of genetic algorithms (GA). This volume presents the development of a novel GA-based identification strategy that contains several advantageous features compared to previous methods. Focusing on structural identification problems with limited and noise contaminated measurements; it provides insight into the effects of various identification parameters on the identification accuracy for systems with known mass. It then proposes a generalization for systems with unknown mass, stiffness and damping properties. The GA identification strategy is subsequently extended for structural damage detection. The findings of the output-only strategy and substructural identification represent a great leap forward from the practical point of view. This book is intended for researchers, engineers and graduate students in structural and mechanical engineering, particularly for those interested in model calibration, parameter estimation and damage detection of structural and mechanical systems using the state-of-the-art GA methodology.

Today's business environment involves design decisions with significant uncertainty. To succeed, decision-makers should replace deterministic methods with a risk-based approach that accounts for the decision maker’s risk tolerance. In many problems, it is impractical to collect data because rare or one-time events are involved. Therefore, we need a methodology to model uncertainty and make choices when we have limited information. This methodology must use all available information and rely only on assumptions that are supported by evidence.This book explains theories and tools to represent uncertainty using both data and expert judgment. It teaches the reader how to make design or business decisions when there is limited information with these tools. Readers will learn a structured, risk-based approach, which is based on common sense principles, for design and business decisions. These decisions are consistent with the decision-maker’s risk attitude.The book is exceptionally suited as educational material because it uses everyday language and real-life examples to elucidate concepts. It demonstrates how these concepts touch our lives through many practical examples, questions and exercises. These are designed to help students learn that first they should understand a problem and then establish a strategy for solving it, instead of using trial-and-error approaches.This volume is intended for undergraduate and graduate courses in mechanical, civil, industrial, aerospace, and ocean engineering and for researchers and professionals in these disciplines. It will also benefit managers and students in business administration who want to make good decisions with limited information.

An exclusive collection of papers introducing current and frontier technologies of special significance to the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of civil infrastructures. This volume is intended for professional and practicing engineers involved with infrastructure systems such as roadways, bridges, buildings, power generating and distribution systems, water resources, environmental facilities, and other civil infrastructure systems.Contributions are by internationally renowned and eminent experts, and cover: 1. Life-cycle cost and performance; 2.Reliability engineering; 3. Risk assessment and management; 4. Optimization methods and optimal design; 5. Role of maintenance, inspection, and repair; 6. Structural and system health monitoring; 7. Durability, fatigue and fracture; 8. Corrosion technology for metal and R/C structures; 9. Concrete materials and concrete structures.

This book presents the latest research findings in the field of maintenance and safety of aging infrastructure. The invited contributions provide an overview of the use of advanced computational and/or experimental techniques in damage and vulnerability assessment as well as maintenance and retrofitting of aging structures and infrastructures such as buildings, bridges, lifelines and ships. Cost-efficient maintenance and management of civil infrastructure requires balanced consideration of both structural performance and the total cost accrued over the entire life-cycle considering uncertainties.In this context, major topics treated in this book include aging structures, climate adaptation, climate change, corrosion, cost, damage assessment, decision making, extreme events, fatigue life, hazards, hazard mitigation, inspection, life-cycle performance, maintenance, management, NDT methods, optimization, redundancy, reliability, repair, retrofit, risk, robustness, resilience, safety, stochastic control, structural health monitoring, sustainability, uncertainties and vulnerability. Applications include bridges, buildings, dams, marine structures, pavements, power distribution poles, offshore platforms, stadiums and transportation networks.This up-to-date overview of the field of maintenance and safety of aging infrastructure makes this book a must-have reference work for those involved with structures and infrastructures, including students, researchers and practitioners.

The interaction phenomenon is very common between different components of a mechanical system. It is a natural phenomenon and is found with the impact force in aircraft landing; the estimation of degree of ripeness of an apple from impact on a beam; the interaction of the magnetic head of a computer disk leading to miniature development of modern computer; etc. Uncertainty in some of them would lead to inaccurate analysis results on the behavior of the structure. The interaction force is difficult to measure unless instruments have been installed during construction for this purpose. Some of the interaction problems are difficult to quantify due to the lack of thorough knowledge on the interaction behavior. Analytical skills are required to estimate the interaction forces of the mechanical system in order to enable advanced developments in different areas of modern technology.This volume provides a comprehensive treatment on this topic with the vehicle-bridge system for an illustration of the moving load problem. It covers a whole range of topics, including mathematical concepts of the moving load problems with continuous beams and plates, vehicle-bridge interaction dynamics, weigh-in-motion techniques, moving load identification algorithms in the frequency-time domain, in the time domain and in the state space domain, techniques based on the generalized orthogonal function expansion and on the finite element formulation. The methods and algorithms can be implemented for on-line identification of the interaction forces.This book is intended for structural engineers and advanced students who wish to explore the benefit of interaction phenomenon and techniques for identification of such interaction forces. It is also recommended for researchers and decision makers working on the operation and maintenance of major infrastructures and engineering facilities.

Load Testing of Bridges, featuring contributions from almost fifty authors from around the world across two interrelated volumes, deals with the practical aspects, the scientific developments, and the international views on the topic of load testing of bridges. Volume 12, Load Testing of Bridges: Current practice and Diagnostic Load Testing, starts with a background to bridge load testing, including the historical perspectives and evolutions, and the current codes and guidelines that are governing in countries around the world. The second part of the book deals with preparation, execution, and post-processing of load tests on bridges. The third part focuses on diagnostic load testing of bridges.This work will be of interest to researchers and academics in the field of civil/structural engineering, practicing engineers and road authorities worldwide.

Load Testing of Bridges, featuring contributions from almost fifty authors from around the world across two interrelated volumes, deals with the practical aspects, the scientific developments, and the international views on the topic of load testing of bridges. Volume 13, Load Testing of Bridges: Proof Load Testing and the Future of Load Testing, focuses first on proof load testing of bridges. It discusses the specific aspects of proof load testing during the preparation, execution, and post-processing of such a test (Part 1). The second part covers the testing of buildings. The third part discusses novel ideas regarding measurement techniques used for load testing. Methods using non-contact sensors, such as photography- and video-based measurement techniques are discussed. The fourth part discusses load testing in the framework of reliability-based decision-making and in the framework of a bridge management program. The final part of the book summarizes the knowledge presented across the two volumes, as well as the remaining open questions for research, and provides practical recommendations for engineers carrying out load tests.This work will be of interest to researchers and academics in the field of civil/structural engineering, practicing engineers and road authorities worldwide.

Load Testing of Bridges, featuring contributions from almost fifty authors from around the world across two interrelated volumes, deals with the practical aspects, the scientific developments, and the international views on the topic of load testing of bridges. Volume 12, Load Testing of Bridges: Current practice and Diagnostic Load Testing, starts with a background to bridge load testing, including the historical perspectives and evolutions, and the current codes and guidelines that are governing in countries around the world. The second part of the book deals with preparation, execution, and post-processing of load tests on bridges. The third part focuses on diagnostic load testing of bridges. Volume 13, Load Testing of Bridges: Proof Load Testing and the Future of Load Testing, focuses first on proof load testing of bridges. It discusses the specific aspects of proof load testing during the preparation, execution, and post-processing of such a test (Part 1). The second part covers the testing of buildings. The third part discusses novel ideas regarding measurement techniques used for load testing. Methods using non-contact sensors, such as photography- and video-based measurement techniques are discussed. The fourth part discusses load testing in the framework of reliability-based decision-making and in the framework of a bridge management program. The final part of the book summarizes the knowledge presented across the two volumes, as well as the remaining open questions for research, and provides practical recommendations for engineers carrying out load tests.This work will be of interest to researchers and academics in the field of civil/structural engineering, practicing engineers and road authorities worldwide.

This book presents the latest research findings in the field of maintenance and safety of aging infrastructure. The invited contributions provide an overview of the use of advanced computational and/or experimental techniques in damage and vulnerability assessment as well as maintenance and retrofitting of aging structures and infrastructures such as buildings, bridges, lifelines and ships. Cost-efficient maintenance and management of civil infrastructure requires balanced consideration of both structural performance and the total cost accrued over the entire life-cycle considering uncertainties.In this context, major topics treated in this book include aging structures, climate adaptation, climate change, corrosion, cost, damage assessment, decision making, extreme events, fatigue life, hazards, hazard mitigation, inspection, life-cycle performance, maintenance, management, NDT methods, optimization, redundancy, reliability, repair, retrofit, risk, robustness, resilience, safety, stochastic control, structural health monitoring, sustainability, uncertainties and vulnerability. Applications include bridges, buildings, dams, marine structures, pavements, power distribution poles, offshore platforms, stadiums and transportation networks.This up-to-date overview of the field of maintenance and safety of aging infrastructure makes this book a must-have reference work for those involved with structures and infrastructures, including students, researchers and practitioners.

This book provides an overview and up-to-date synthesis of the most commonly used non-destructive technologies for the reverse engineering of built infrastructure facilities. These technologies tackle both the geometric and radiometric characterization of built structures, and thus, validated technologies such as laser scanning, photogrammetry, and multispectral remote sensing are presented in depth, from their fundamentals to their application to management systems for diverse applications in civil engineering (damage inspection, structural calculations, road inventory and inspections, BIM, etc.). Alternative methods are therefore presented for routine sub-surface inspections by using non-invasive geophysics (e.g. magnetic, electrical and electromagnetic), as well as thermography for the nearest sub-surface.The book is divided into three sections, whose main features are as follows:Section 1: Fundamentals, principles and applications of: laser scanning, photogrammetry, geophysics, ground penetrating radar, IR thermography, multispectral imaging.Section 2: Applications to the inspection of infrastructure facilities: tunnels, breakwaters, railways, roads, and modeling of existing buildings (damage inspection in constructions, thermographic 3D modeling, structural modeling of industrial constructions).Section 3: new management tools and intelligent modeling: infrastructure management systems based on non-destructive technologies for masonry arch bridges, computational approaches for GPR processing and interpretation, automatic processing and object recognition from laser scanning data, BIM for existing buildings.This cutting-edge edited volume will be a valuable resource for students, researchers and professional engineers with an interest in non-destructive technologies and their applications to reverse engineering of structures and infrastructure.

Load Testing of Bridges, featuring contributions from almost fifty authors from around the world across two interrelated volumes, deals with the practical aspects, the scientific developments, and the international views on the topic of load testing of bridges. Volume 12, Load Testing of Bridges: Current practice and Diagnostic Load Testing, starts with a background to bridge load testing, including the historical perspectives and evolutions, and the current codes and guidelines that are governing in countries around the world. The second part of the book deals with preparation, execution, and post-processing of load tests on bridges. The third part focuses on diagnostic load testing of bridges. Volume 13, Load Testing of Bridges: Proof Load Testing and the Future of Load Testing, focuses first on proof load testing of bridges. It discusses the specific aspects of proof load testing during the preparation, execution, and post-processing of such a test (Part 1). The second part covers the testing of buildings. The third part discusses novel ideas regarding measurement techniques used for load testing. Methods using non-contact sensors, such as photography- and video-based measurement techniques are discussed. The fourth part discusses load testing in the framework of reliability-based decision-making and in the framework of a bridge management program. The final part of the book summarizes the knowledge presented across the two volumes, as well as the remaining open questions for research, and provides practical recommendations for engineers carrying out load tests.This work will be of interest to researchers and academics in the field of civil/structural engineering, practicing engineers and road authorities worldwide.

Rapid advances in computational methods and computer capabilities have led to a new generation of structural identification strategies. Robust and efficient methods have successfully been developed on the basis of genetic algorithms (GA). This volume presents the development of a novel GA-based identification strategy that contains several advantageous features compared to previous methods. Focusing on structural identification problems with limited and noise contaminated measurements; it provides insight into the effects of various identification parameters on the identification accuracy for systems with known mass. It then proposes a generalization for systems with unknown mass, stiffness and damping properties. The GA identification strategy is subsequently extended for structural damage detection. The findings of the output-only strategy and substructural identification represent a great leap forward from the practical point of view. This book is intended for researchers, engineers and graduate students in structural and mechanical engineering, particularly for those interested in model calibration, parameter estimation and damage detection of structural and mechanical systems using the state-of-the-art GA methodology.

The interaction phenomenon is very common between different components of a mechanical system. It is a natural phenomenon and is found with the impact force in aircraft landing; the estimation of degree of ripeness of an apple from impact on a beam; the interaction of the magnetic head of a computer disk leading to miniature development of modern computer; etc. Uncertainty in some of them would lead to inaccurate analysis results on the behavior of the structure. The interaction force is difficult to measure unless instruments have been installed during construction for this purpose. Some of the interaction problems are difficult to quantify due to the lack of thorough knowledge on the interaction behavior. Analytical skills are required to estimate the interaction forces of the mechanical system in order to enable advanced developments in different areas of modern technology.This volume provides a comprehensive treatment on this topic with the vehicle-bridge system for an illustration of the moving load problem. It covers a whole range of topics, including mathematical concepts of the moving load problems with continuous beams and plates, vehicle-bridge interaction dynamics, weigh-in-motion techniques, moving load identification algorithms in the frequency-time domain, in the time domain and in the state space domain, techniques based on the generalized orthogonal function expansion and on the finite element formulation. The methods and algorithms can be implemented for on-line identification of the interaction forces.This book is intended for structural engineers and advanced students who wish to explore the benefit of interaction phenomenon and techniques for identification of such interaction forces. It is also recommended for researchers and decision makers working on the operation and maintenance of major infrastructures and engineering facilities.

Today's business environment involves design decisions with significant uncertainty. To succeed, decision-makers should replace deterministic methods with a risk-based approach that accounts for the decision maker’s risk tolerance. In many problems, it is impractical to collect data because rare or one-time events are involved. Therefore, we need a methodology to model uncertainty and make choices when we have limited information. This methodology must use all available information and rely only on assumptions that are supported by evidence.This book explains theories and tools to represent uncertainty using both data and expert judgment. It teaches the reader how to make design or business decisions when there is limited information with these tools. Readers will learn a structured, risk-based approach, which is based on common sense principles, for design and business decisions. These decisions are consistent with the decision-maker’s risk attitude.The book is exceptionally suited as educational material because it uses everyday language and real-life examples to elucidate concepts. It demonstrates how these concepts touch our lives through many practical examples, questions and exercises. These are designed to help students learn that first they should understand a problem and then establish a strategy for solving it, instead of using trial-and-error approaches.This volume is intended for undergraduate and graduate courses in mechanical, civil, industrial, aerospace, and ocean engineering and for researchers and professionals in these disciplines. It will also benefit managers and students in business administration who want to make good decisions with limited information.