ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: A comprehensive analysis and assessment system for structural monitoring of concrete structures is under way within several projects of the collaborative research center CRC 477 “Structural Monitoring” at the Technical University Braunschweig, Germany. Main components of the system are a reliability-based system assessment tool, prognostic models of degradation and new sensoring techniques. The system assessment tool is based on the reliability method; its task is to find out weak points of a structure being first responsible for a possible failure. If prognostic models of degradation are combined with monitoring an improved accuracy of prognosis can be achieved. To get relevant monitoring data from a structure a new generation of sensors is being developed. These three parts of a structural monitoring system are presented in the contribution. The methods mentioned before are tested and demonstrated at a real scale pc-bridge, serving as an experimental structure. This structure provides typical structural situations and degradation processes in a realistic manner. The object is to examine under conditions close to real structures the combined use of reliability analysis in order to find weakpoints and to decide on the places where sensors should be applied on one side, and on the other side the practical operability and usefulness of new sensors and adaptive prognostic models for concrete degradation as presented above. The experimental bridge structure is presented and the first results of the probabilistic system analysis are sketched finally.
1 INTRODUCTION
