Structural Identification and Health Monitoring

Abstract

This course introduces fundamental and advanced methods for structural identification and health monitoring. It demonstrates how measurements of structural response—such as strains, deflections, and accelerations—can be exploited to assess structural condition and support the safe, reliable, and resilient operation of civil and mechanical infrastructure.

Objective

This course aims to provide a graduate-level introduction to the identification and condition assessment of structural systems. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to: - Design and conduct tests on structural systems to assess their condition using measured dynamic response. - Analyse vibration signals and extract key structural properties—including natural frequencies, mode shapes, and damping—from noisy measurements. - Formulate structural equations in both the time and frequency domain and interpret their implications for system behaviour. - Detect and localise potential damage by identifying statistically significant changes in structural response patterns. Throughout the semester, students will complete a sequence of graded assignments involving data analysis, programming, and interpretation of measurement results. The semester concludes with a final presentation in which each student presents and discusses their completed assignments. Grading: - The course is assessed as a graded semester performance (benotete Semesterleistung). - Students must submit all assigned exercises throughout the semester. - A final presentation summarising the completed assignments forms part of the final grade.

Content

The course combines theory, algorithms for system identification, programming exercises, and laboratory/field testing to provide a comprehensive overview of how structural response data can be collected and interpreted. Topics include: - Elements of Vibration Theory - Transform-Domain Methods - Digital Signal Processing - Nonparametric Identification (transient, correlation, spectral analysis) - Parametric Identification (time-series models, transfer functions) - Structural Health Monitoring & Damage Detection A series of computer and laboratory exercises, alongside in-class demonstrations, will give students practical, hands-on experience with the course material.

Resources