Structural Health Assessment

Hrishikesh Gadekar

1. Introduction
Structural Health Assessment (SHA) aims to assess the behaviour of structures, evaluate
the performance of materials during the life cycle and give a diagnosis of the "state" of the
constituent materials, of the different parts, and the structure as a whole. It refers to the process
of implementing a damage detection and characterization strategy for various engineering
structures. In an effective Structural management program, strategies for life extension, upgrade,
and replacement strategies must be developed. The long-term vision for SHA is to monitor and
evaluate the structural performance continuously so that maintenance, repair, and upgrade
actions can be economically optimized. The SHA concept is widely applied all over the world, to
various forms of infrastructures such as bridges, dams, skyscraper buildings.

2. Importance of Structural Health Assessment (SHA)

Any structure after its construction deteriorates due to loading or environmental impacts.
Thus, there is a variation in the strength of the structure after it is built in place. If this variation
is under a certain threshold limit, the structure is considered as damage-free; otherwise, the
structure is considered as damaged, which, eventually may fail. Here, the damage is defined as
changes to the material and/or geometric properties of a structural system, which adversely
affects the system's performance. SHA is effective in several ways, as follows:
– Detection of damages during and after construction, which can cause any change in
properties than expected by design.
– Meet the requirements of much longer service life as proposed in Modern design codes.
– For extension of Service life and reduce operational risk.
– Acts an early warning system to avoid any further economic loss and casualties.
– Cost-effective and reliable inspection solutions to ensure the safety and reliability of the
structures, thereby eliminating the hidden costs of any damages.
– Essential to monitor the structures built in areas prone to natural disasters.
– Assess improvement in the performance of the structure after Retrofitting.
Although SHA looks to be promising and beneficial, there have been some issues that have
limited their use in real engineering practice, especially in India. The main reasons include lack
of general awareness, negligence and non-availability of technology. The other factors comprise
of high expenses of SHA solutions, uncertainty or confusion over the use of sensors, extensive
wiring leading to time-consuming and labour-intensive installation process etc.

3. Methods for Structural Health Assessment (SHA)

The methods used for SHA should include the different parts of the structure and full
assembly of the structure as a whole under different cases of loadings. Responses are the
important aspects of a structure, which can be commonly measured and be divided in as:
a) Mechanical: Strain, Deformation, Displacement, Cracks opening, Stress, Load etc.
b) Physical: Temperature, Humidity, Pore pressure etc.
c) Chemical: Chloride/Sulphate/ Carbonatation penetration, pH, Rebar oxidation etc.

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SHA has been practised for centuries and has evolved over the years. The earlier methods were
usually based on Visual Inspection and instrument-based Non-Destructive Testing (NDT). The
instrument-based NDT included Schmidt's Hammer Test, Ultrasonic Test, Radiographic Test,
Eddy Current Test, Magnetic Particle Test, Thermal Infrared Test. Most of these methods are
non-model based and demand the inspector to be experienced and skilled.
Today, the usual procedures of assessment are based on design codes. Monitoring is used to
obtain a better understanding of the structural behaviour and the uncertainties of the load-
carrying capacity. Different parts influence the selection of the monitoring method used:
a) Structural phenomena to be studied which include Inclinations, Crack detection and
localization, Crack widths, Foundation settlements, Corrosion. The parameters causing
these phenomena can be forces, stresses, displacements, rotations, vibrations, and strain
or environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind etc.
b) Time strategy applied describes the duration and frequency of the measurements. They
are further characterized as short-term, long-term, periodic, continuous and triggered
monitoring. Long-term monitoring is done over months or years.
c) Load effect strategies determine how the measurements can be done. Measurements of
phenomena such as deflection, inclination, settlements, crack widths and phenomena
caused by environmental properties like temperature, humidity, wind, are most of the
time quasi-static since they vary slowly over the time. It is often enough to measure the
peak values over a longer time. This is called Static monitoring. Structures with moving
loads are assessed with a higher sampling rate. This is termed as Dynamic monitoring.
d) Local Monitoring and Global Monitoring: The local techniques, being localized in nature,
can identify damage only within a limited zone, e.g. hairline cracks. The Global methods
observe the global phenomena of overall structure, such as Vibrations or deformations.
The available SHA procedures for damage detection are classified into four levels as: Level 1-
Determination if the damage is present in a structure, Level 2- Determination of the geometric
location of the damage, Level 3- Assessment of severity of the damage and Level 4- Prediction
of remaining (residual) life of the structure. SHA addressed in the context of a statistical pattern
recognition paradigm can involve Integration of sensors, Smart materials, Data acquisition, Data
transmission, Computational power, processing inside structure, Analysis and Decision making.
Several Practical applications, Tools and Techniques used for SHA are summarized below:
The evolution of technology has seen the use of advanced sensors, data analysis tools and
software in SHA. These sensors are easy to install, operate and collect real-time data which is
used to assess structural strength in more accurately. Accelerometer, Load cells, LVDT, Strain
gauges are placed on bridges, dams, commercial buildings etc. in order to collect information
regarding acceleration, force, the displacement between parts, strain in the system respectively.
Scanning sensors or Embedded sensors can be used to detect corrosion or surface cracks.
Hydrostatic liquid systems and LVDT are used for long-term, continuous monitoring of
Foundation settlements. GPS and Laser sensors are a global monitoring technique for evaluation
of Displacements in systems with dynamic loading. Piezo-electric ceramic (PZT) sensors,
Optical fiber sensors are also available nowadays, which are an alternative to conventional
electric strain gauges. Probabilistic evaluation or Finite Element (FE) modelling can be done
from the collected data. These models are then used to optimize/solve the problem.
Several types of actions are needed to be executed depending upon the results obtained from
SHA. These include Strengthening if the structure has only minor defects. Restrictions on some

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functions of the structure or Retrofitting is required if SHA shows significant defects. The most
expensive solution is to entirely build a new structure if SHA results depict that the structure
cannot carry sufficient loads. ISO 2002 & other Standards depict certain guidelines for SHA.
4. Recommendations for improving Structural Health Assessment (SHA)
To improve the quality of structures,
a) It should be ensured that SHA is used right from the start of the construction process,
during the construction, occupancy & until the end of life of the structure. This will result
in increased quality, reduced maintenance costs and prolonged life of the structures.
b) Use of the modern-day solutions such as the Internet of Things, Cloud computing,
Unsupervised Machine Learning algorithms can give a new direction to SHA.
c) The legal standards and design codes can be revised to make SHA mandatory as keeping
our structures safe to avoid all the subsequent damages is entirely into National interest.
d) Increased awareness is one of the major factors for widespread use of SHA techniques.
5. Effect of changes in Codes on the design of building and need of SHA
The Building Codes are, at times, evolved, bringing in newer practices for construction.
Energy efficiency, Safety and Sustainability are some of the major factors considered while
updating the Codes. It is observed that the newer practices usually increase the cost of the
construction activity due to the introduction of modern technology, more skilled labours etc. The
Architects & Engineers in the housing industry respond by reducing the area size of the house,
thus compensating for the increased cost. All the codes developed at various times always
incorporate a certain minimum level of safety. Hence, the safety of the structure is never
compromised at any time. When the new philosophies of the codes of practice are developed,
they bring in rational value for the safety of the structure. Hence, structures which are built using
the old codes of practice will always be safe. However, for any built structure, when the loading
or environmental conditions change significantly, SHA is required to be carried out to ensure the
safety and serviceability criteria. Railways, bridges, Public use structures are a few examples.
6. Retrofitting and the role of Structural Engineers
Retrofitting is one of the best options to make an existing inadequate building safe
against probable future earthquake or other environmental forces. It reduces the vulnerability of
damage of an existing structure during a near-future seismic activity. Structural engineers are
required to ensure the feasibility of modifying the existing structure so that the retrofitted
structure meets all the safety and serviceability criteria. Structural engineers play a major role to
identify those components of the structure which need to be modified to fulfil the purpose of
retrofitting. Selection of the ideal retrofitting technique; either local or global and identification
of the correct components for retrofitting process to optimize the cost is also an important task.
References
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Society for Optical Engineering. April 2008.
[2] Ajoy Kumar Das and Achintya Haldar (2012). PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF STRUCTURAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT. International
Symposium on Engineering under Uncertainty: Safety Assessment and Management January 4 to 6 2012.
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[4] Arvid Hejll (2007:10). Civil Structural Health Monitoring Strategies, Methods and Applications.
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[9] Sumit Bhardwaj, Sabbir Ahammed Belali (2015). A Review on Retrofitting. Amity University Noida.