ABSTRACT

Many civil structures in service are in fact deficient due to many factors. They deteriorate due to environmental corrosion and long-term fatigue after many years in service. They may degrade due to strong winds, severe earthquakes, terrorist attacks and other abnormal events. The failure of deficient civil structures could be catastrophic in terms not only of loss of life and the economy, but also of subsequent social and psychological impacts. It is therefore imperative to detect early damage and enable maintenance of the structure prior to its complete failure and consequently, to save lives and assets. Damage detection has been a challenging task in structural health monitoring (SHM) technology, particularly for large civil structures subject to multiple loadings. Although many problems in damage detection of civil structures have not been solved, this chapter introduces the basic concepts and current status of structural damage detection with a relatively complete coverage of the subject.