Optical measurements from high‐speed, high‐definition video recordings can be used to define the full‐field dynamics of a structure. By comparing the dynamic responses resulting from both damaged and ...undamaged elements, structural health monitoring can be carried out, similarly as with mounted transducers. Unlike the physical sensors, which provide point‐wise measurements and a limited number of output channels, high‐quality video recording allows very spatially dense information. Moreover, video acquisition is a noncontact technique. This guarantees that any anomaly in the dynamic behaviour can be more easily correlated to damage and not to added mass or stiffness due to the installed sensors.
However, in real‐life scenarios, the vibrations due to environmental input are often so small that they are indistinguishable from measurement noise if conventional image‐based techniques are applied. In order to improve the signal‐to‐noise ratio in low‐amplitude measurements, phase‐based motion magnification has been recently proposed.
This study intends to show that model‐based structural health monitoring can be performed on modal data and time histories processed with phase‐based motion magnification, whereas unamplified vibrations would be too small for being successfully exploited. All the experiments were performed on a multidamaged box beam with different damage sizes and angles.
The experimental acquisition of large vibrations presents various technical difficulties. Especially in the case of geometric nonlinearities, dealing with very flexible, very light structures causes ...minimal variations in mass or stiffness to affect severely the dynamical response. Thus, sensors' added masses change the behaviour of the structure with respect to the unloaded condition. Moreover, the most common tools regularly employed for acquisition in vibration analysis - that is to say, laser vibrometers and accelerometers - are often designed with small amplitudes in mind. Their recordings are known to lack accuracy when the investigated structure undergoes large or very large motions, due to geometrical reasons. Image-based measurement techniques offer a valid solution to this problem. Here, an ensemble of three video processing techniques are benchmarked against each other and tested as viable options for the non-contact dynamic characterisation of slender beam-like structures. The methods have been applied to the case study of an aluminium spar for a highly-flexible airwing prototype and compared to the measurements recorded by a laser velocimeter and several Raspberry PI Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), which also proved to be minimally invasive.
In this study, Computer Vision and Phase-Based Motion Magnification (PBMM) are validated for continuous Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) purposes. The aim is to identify the exact instant of ...occurrence for damage or abrupt structural changes from video-extracted, very low amplitude (barely visible) vibrations. The study presents three experimental datasets: a box beam with multiple saw cuts of different lengths and angles, a beam with a full rectangular cross section and a mass added at the tip, and the spar of a prototype High-Aspect-Ratio wing. Both mode-shape- and frequency-based approaches are considered, showing the potential to identify the severity and position of the damage as well A high-definition, high-speed camera and a low-cost commercial alternative have been successfully utilised for these video acquisitions. Finally, the technique is also preliminarily tested for outdoor applications with smartphone cameras.
The work focuses on the structural design and performances of a unique optical test system (OTS) used for measuring metre-scale optical surfaces. The investigation was carried out through a modal ...analysis. Two sets of results are presented. Both modal analysis of the entire OTS and transmissibility function related to its use as an optical system are carried out and analysed. The OTS is used for the measurements of the form accuracy at nanometre level of metre-scale concave surfaces. The OTS is a four and half-metre-tall mechanical structure made of bolted aluminium profiles, two structural platens, two dedicated precision positioning supports, a test piece, and a state-of-the-art laser interferometer. The OTS was numerically modelled and fully instrumented with triaxial accelerometers. The results of the modal analysis highlight the natural modes of the entire OTS. Both numerical and experimental methods are designed. The investigation methods are iterative. Indeed, a preliminary numerical model is created using finite element analysis (FEA). FEA results enable the determination of the dynamic range and suitable locations of accelerometers that are mounted onto the OTS for the experimental validation of the FEA model and further to carry out the transmissibility study. Natural frequencies, damping ratios, and mode shape values are obtained and scrutinized. These results are used for refining the FEA model. In fact, the lack of symmetry and the use of feet are identified as the key design feature that affects the OTS. The correlation between experimental and numerical results is within five percent for the first four modes. The results of the transmissibility study highlight the specific natural modes that influence the OTS measurement capability. Overall, the study enables to guide engineers and researchers towards a robust design using a validated and methodical approach.
This work describes a novel method for measuring the damping, the elastic modulus and the non-linear behavior of high strength low damping fiber materials such as para-aramids, silicon carbide (SiC) ...and carbon. The method is based on resonant response characterization of a spring-mass system excited by a sine-wave forcing term which is applied as a vertical force to the suspended mass. The damping is obtained from the measured resonance quality factor
Q
, the elasticity modulus is calculated from the resonance frequency, and the non-linear coefficient is obtained with the backbone approach from resonance profile variations as a function of the forcing term amplitude. It is argued that the method is very sensitive, to the point that a maximum excitation amplitude of the order of a few percent of resistance is sufficient to obtain an estimate of the non-linear coefficient. This claim is supported by experimental results. A testing machine is also discussed, which provides the necessary sensitivity at such small excitation amplitudes and the capability of evaluating very small damping values, as expected in high strength low damping fiber materials. The sensitivity is guaranteed by an optical position sensor with sub-micron resolution. To evaluate small damping values, particular care has been taken to ensure that energy dispersions in the generator are much smaller than energy dispersions in the fibers themselves. Examples of dynamic characterization are shown for para-aramid, silicon carbide, and carbon fibers.
High strength fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs) are composite materials made of fibres such as carbon, aramid and or glass, and a resin matrix. FRPs are commonly used for structural repair and ...strengthening interventions and exhibit high potential for applications to existing constructions, including heritage buildings. In regard to aramid fibres, uncertainties about the long-term behaviour of these materials have often made the designers reluctant to use them in structural engineering. The present study describes simple and non-destructive nonlinearity tests for assessing damage or degradation of structural properties in Kevlar fibres. This was obtained by using high precision measurements to detect small deviations in the dynamic response measured on fibres and ropes. The change in dynamic properties was then related to a damage produced by exposure of the sample to UV rays for a defined time period, which simulated long-term sun exposure. In order to investigate the sensitivity of such an approach to damage detection, non-linearity characterisation tests were conducted on aramid fibres in both damaged and undamaged states. With the purpose of carrying out dynamic tests on small fibre specimens, a dedicated instrumentation was designed and built in cooperation with the Metrology Laboratory of the Department of Electronics at the Politecnico di Torino.
This paper aims at describing the tests campaign carried out on five precast bonded post-tensioned concrete bridge beams, recently dismounted after a service life of 50 years. The girders were part ...of the deck of a recently dismounted viaduct of an Italian motorway. The beams showed different deterioration levels, mainly due to the different exposure to corrosive agents. The test campaign were designed for evaluating the residual load bearing capacity of the members. Dynamic measurements were acquired before and after the static tests by using different excitation sources. This experimental research highlights that the natural frequencies of the beams can be used as a predictor of the ultimate bending moment of an existing structure.
The present study aims at numerically investigating the feasibility of an adaptive TMD control system applied on lightweight, flexible structures characterized by time-varying inertial properties. ...The case study will consist of a photovoltaic support structure subject to snow drifting and slippage in windy conditions.
This paper presents the non-linear investigations carried out on a scaled model of a two-span masonry arch bridge. The model has been built in order to study the effect of the central pile settlement ...due to riverbank erosion. Progressive damage was induced in several steps by applying increasing settlements at the central pier. For each settlement step, harmonic shaker tests were conducted under different excitation levels, this allowing for the non-linear identification of the progressively damaged system. The shaker tests have been performed at resonance with the modal frequency of the structure, which were determined from a previous linear identification. Estimated non-linearity parameters, which result from the systematic application of restoring force based identification algorithms, can corroborate models to be used in the reassessment of existing structures. The method used for non-linear identification allows monitoring the evolution of non-linear parameters or indicators which can be used in damage and safety assessment.
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