Feature assimilation in structural health monitoring applications

Next generation structural health monitoring (SHM) technology for early detection and mitigation of adverse structural effects holds the potential to aid in the proactive maintenance of various civil structures. SHM techniques eliminate the need for a priori knowledge of damage, and thus the need for access to the damaged portion of the structure. The underlying principle behind SHM is measuring changes in the system vibration response, which would ultimately indicate changes in the physical properties due to structural damage. A challenge to the successful application of SHM to civil structures is the selection of suitable vibration response features (damage indicators), that are highly sensitive to the presence and extent of damage, while having low sensitivity to ambient noise. Since it is not feasible (nor possible) to damage an in-service structure for research purposes, a scaled arch model made of PVC is utilized for laboratory testing in this study. The vibration response is measured both for the undamaged arch and then for the damaged arch once cracks are introduced to the system. The effect of noise on the vibration measurements is also studied.