Study on Dynamic Detection of Reinforced Concrete Bridge Damage by Finite Element Model Updating

What is it about?

The goal of this study is to use an MMUM mathematical model updating method from incomplete test data to detect damages in reinforced concrete bridges. It is carried out a suitable finite element model of a repaired bridge. We can use the diagnostics to find and detect damage in a reinforced concrete bridge. As a result, modal testing techniques have been used to check the progress of analytical predictions. Furthermore, a finite time centred space scheme has been developed to solve a set of equations that can readily handle finite element matrices of a bridge model. In this study, the method is used to detect damages as well as existing cracks in a repaired bridge in real time. The repaired bridge at Oued Oumazer in Algeria was chosen to test the method's efficiency. Identification methods have been shown to be capable of detecting the exact location of damage areas that need to be rectified while avoiding the inaccuracies of the finite element model for mass, stiffness, and loading.

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Why is it important?

Development of an original, new and efficient method for determining the shape functions of the four nodes constant strain tetrahedron to solve the lack of the well known existing formulations which can generate negative volumes as it is proven in some simple cases like in (1,0,0), (0,1,0), (0,0,1) and (0,0,0) tetrahedron vertices; Consideration of the structural damping which is an important structural self-damping process under dynamic vibrations and an hysteresis material process due to the slip connections; Generalization of Hooke's law for the volumic case using the tetrahedral element with three degrees of freedom per node with a volumic deformation; MMUM updating techniques to analyze large structural complex systems of equations; Finite element detection of damage areas at exact locations; Structural material properties include concrete matrix and reinforcement steel in the composite mixture rules.