Model-based approaches for sensor data monitoring for smart bridges

摘要

At present, bridge maintenance management typically consists of regular visual building inspections. Structural damage frequently remains undiscovered until it becomes clearly visible, a situation which makes little economic sense. However, it is often the case that damage and critical reactions to a bridges internal structure occur in inaccessible and concealed places, and are caused by existing but often unknown effects on the construction. Existing as well as newly-constructed bridges should therefore be able to provide information about their condition and it's development at an early stage in addition to the building inspections. To achieve this, flexible and adaptable modular systems are required in and on the bridge structures to provide measurement-technology support, together with differentiated evaluation procedures and a correspondingly enlarged maintenance management program. The instrumentation required must consist of capable and durable sensor technology to register effects on the structures and the reactions of individual structural elements; on the other hand smart measurement data processing must also be in place to ensure the plausibility, fusion, interpolation and reduction of sensor data streams in situ. This article summarises the approaches and prospects of implementing a high-performance sensor data analysis and monitoring concept which has been examined in the context of current research with a focus on practical aspects of monitoring bridge structures. The discussion in this contribution focuses on model-based analysis techniques with regard to areas of application and input-to-benefit-ratios. The findings of this research are of general interest and therefore transferable to other areas of infrastructure maintenance management.