Evaluating the utility of global damage detection for highway bridges

A systems-based approach for evaluating the utility of structural health monitoring methods in bridge engineering applications is presented. The vehicle for this evaluation is a systems management model developed within a computationally tractable decision support framework called a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP). A major component of this work was the investigation of the complex relationship that exists between `damage' as inferred from global measurements (e.g., natural frequency and mode shape) and the actual resistance or capacity of a structural system. The concept of a relationship matrix is presented as a means of representing this relationship mathematically. In addition, a simplified example is offered to illustrate how relationship matrices can be assembled via simulation. Finally, the potential implications of this research are discussed.