Damage Detection in Bridge using Displacement, Slope and Curvature

To detect and evaluate the damage present in bridge, static identification method is known to be simple and effective, compared to dynamic method. Therefore, in this study the damage detection method in bridge using static displacement, slope and curvature is examined. The static displacement is calculated using finite element analysis. The slope and curvature are determined, using central difference method, from the displacement. Comparison of the differences and ratios of these responses in intact and damaged bridges results in evaluation of the sensitivity in the damage bridge. That is, the difference is used to evaluate the location of the damage and the ratio is used to evaluate the extent of the damage. It was shown that these three responses were significantly useful in detecting and predicting the location of damage present in bridge. Especially, the curvature was most excellent than the others in detecting the location and extent of damage. In case of 20% damage in bridge, the sensitivity of curvature was about 20~50%.