Bayesian model updating of concrete-embedded miter gate anchorages and implications for design

Accurate assessment of the remaining life of infrastructure assets is important for safe operation and efficient maintenance. In the case of inland navigation infrastructure, the United States Army Corps of Engineers have identified the embedded steel anchorages on miter gates as a critical component of the infrastructure network. Many of these anchorages are of an age such that they are at or beyond their useful life. The embedded nature of the anchorage precludes visual inspection, and the complicated interaction between the steel anchorage components and the embedding concrete is challenging to analyze. The traditional analysis method of the anchorages neglects the concrete embedment when determining member stresses. As a result, a conservative estimate of remaining fatigue life is obtained. A more accurate assessment of member stresses has shown that the surrounding concrete significantly reduces the steel stresses, resulting in substantially longer estimates of remaining life. To generalize results obtained from tests of a specific miter gate specimen to be more broadly applicable to other embedded anchorages, this work uses Bayesian model updating to calibrate a set of springs representative of the concrete embedment. These spring constants can be used in the analysis of other embedded anchorage configurations to obtain a more accurate assessments of remaining fatigue life.