Some topics of Structural Health Monitoring: FEM model updating and Limit Analysis of large-scale structures Seminar
- Time:
- 16:00
- Date:
- 1 May 2018
- Venue:
- Building 13/3017
Event details
ISVR Engineering Research Seminar Series 2017-2018
Abstract
Structural identification and health monitoring constitute a continuously evolving research field that increasingly attracts the interest of researchers, engineers and property owners around the world. Among other reasons, this may be attributed to the challenging and crucial issue of assessing the current conditions and residual lifetime of a structure, in particular from a cost-effective maintenance point of view.
Along that line, the combination of in-situ testing and computer modeling represents a crucial means for structural assessment. Such a combination relies on the so-called model updating , also referred to as model calibration. This process typically includes the following sequence: to acquire – to model – to update the model. It consists of a complex procedure in which a reconciling process between experimental evidence and model response is sought.
Limit Analysis (LA) concerns the determination of the safety factors with respect to the ultimate limit state of a structure and associated collapse mechanism kinematics. Such an information looks suitable for comparative evaluations among different design options, which may correspond to different health conditions of a targeted structure or to feasible structural choices to be selected for its renovation. In this presentation, specific recent formulations and applications concerning both FEM model updating and LA of large-scale civil structures are presented and discussed. In particular, a complete model updating approach is presented for a historic reinforced concrete bridge with parabolic arches, and the true potentials of LA in the structural analysis of another monumental iron arch bridge are revealed. The presentation highlights that the two disciplines may be joined in a coupled approach toward Structural Health Monitoring purposes for such type of structures or others.
Speaker information
Rosalba Ferrari , University of Bergamo. Dr. Rosalba FERRARI is currently appointed as Research Associate of Mechanics of Solids and Structures at the Department of Engineering and Applied Sciences of the University of Bergamo, Italy (December 2017). There, she earlier received a Master Degree in Building Engineering (2009) and a Doctoral Degree in Mechatronics, Information Technology, New Technologies and Mathematical Methods (2013). She was also appointed to Postdoc and Research Assistant contracts since then (2013 – 2017), also in in collaboration with the Institute of Structural Engineering (IBK), ETH Zurich. She has been teaching in the area of Strength of Materials to students in Building and Mechanical Engineering, at both Bachelor and Master level. Her research interests lay in the area of structural analysis of historic constructions, system identification, FEM modelling, FEM analysis, Limit Analysis and structural health monitoring. She has published about twenty articles in peer-reviewed international journals and conference proceedings, with particular focus on Limit Analysis of large-scale structures, evolutive elastoplastic analysis of structures, modal dynamic identification through output-only techniques, FEM model updating, signal processing and heterogeneous data fusion procedures.