A sensor-driven structural health prognosis procedure considering sensor performance degradation

Abstract

This article presents a general framework for sensor-driven structural health prognosis and its application to probabilistic maintenance scheduling. Continuously collected sensor data is used to update the parameters of the stochastic structural degradation model. Uncertainty in sensor data (i.e. measurement error) is explicitly modelled as an evolving stochastic process. The proposed framework utilises Bayesian theorem and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling to calculate the posterior distributions of stochastic parameters of the structural degradation model. Bayesian updating allows the use of dynamic diagnostic information with prior knowledge for improved prognosis including risk analysis and remaining useful life (RUL) estimation. Although the proposed sensor-driven structural health prognosis procedure is illustrated with a fatigue-related example, it is applicable to more general applications such as corrosion and pavement cracking. A case study of the fatigue details found in a prototype steelgirder bridge has been conducted to demonstrate the proposed prognosis and maintenance scheduling procedure.

Keywords:

• sensors
• fatigue field testing and monitoring
• structural reliability
• structural safety
• degradation
• stochastic processes

Acknowledgements

The work described in this article was partially supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CMMI-1031304 (Program Director: Dr. M.P. Singh). The authors are also grateful to the University of Maryland as well as the Foundation for the Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of the P.R. China (Grant No. 2007B49), the Special Fund for Basic Scientific Research of Central Colleges of the P.R. China and Chang'an University (Grant No. CHD2010JC003) for providing additional financial support for this research project. However, the opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are solely those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.