Patent Description:
In general, infrastructure buildings, especially bridges, are fundamental links for goods and people. However, those structures face aging and decay. In order to increase safety and reduce maintenance costs, permanent monitoring is advantageous. This monitoring can be complex, especially for structures with components that are not easily accessible for visual inspection or where visual inspection may not reveal structural changes.

It may be of interest for a variety of reasons, e.g. economic, infrastructural or political, to keep those structures in service, despite their aging. Comprehensive visual inspection in the immediate vicinity is regularly used but not always suitable. There are a high number of structures whose design makes a regular inspection of every component impossible. To overcome this issue and optimize the management of bridge structures, structural health monitoring has been applied in the structural engineering field since the <NUM> [<NUM>]. In addition, it is necessary to cover the time interval between visual inspection events. A solution is to install structural monitoring devices at the affected buildings.

A dense array of sensors is needed to capture changes in the structural behavior or materials under the given influences, especially, it the probable failure locations are unknown [<NUM>].

Typical sensor types suitable to monitor a building's status are fiber optic sensors [<NUM>]. Fiber optic sensing is used in building monitoring, e.g. for the instrumentation of reinforced concrete bridges. Those measurement systems comprise a light source, a light-transmitting cable, sensors and a light detector. Typically, the sender and receiver are integrated into one optoelectronic device, the interrogator. The sensors are chosen concerning the specific application, resulting in different requirements. For the location of crack openings in the µm-range, a high spatial resolution and accuracy is necessary. To get further information about the surrounding conditions, other parameters such as the temperature can be determined.

There are specific methods to monitor buildings using sensing technics, e.g. a method as disclosed in <CIT>. Measurement results of sensors placed at such buildings are monitored and evaluated. Those methods frequently have the problem on managing the high amount of data and the unknown structural reaction to local material changes, such as prestressing steel fractures, cracking, etc. In addition, the initial boundary conditions are usually unknown outside a laboratory environment. Furthermore, the temperature influence and other external impacts on the measured values can be significant. Still, those influences are usually not critical from the structural design point, depending on the structure. Accordingly, automatic data verification is only possible to a limited extent resulting in a high amount of critical data that has to be checked and interpreted manually. Consequently, constant availability of personnel resources is required due to additional checking of the data and visual inspections on-site.

Another known method for monitoring structural health in buildings in known from <CIT>.

The task of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the state of the art and to propose a method that can be used to monitor a building permanently with enhanced reliability and efficiency.

A first aspect of the invention provides a method for real-time analysis and detection of unexpected changes during structural health monitoring, applying a certain number N of sensors which are placed on the monitored structure to measure a parameter si(tk) at the time tk, comprising the following steps:.

Preferably, the correlation coefficient of condition <NUM>) is the Pearson's correlation coefficient or any other numerical measurement of statistical relationship between two variables.

Preferably, the signal amplitude of condition <NUM>) is the peak-to peak amplitude or the effective value or any other parameter that characterizes the amplitude.

Preferably, the mean value of condition <NUM>) is the statistical mode or any other statistical value that represents the structure's unloaded state during the time interval tw.

The two related sensors p and q are, for example, two adjacent sensors p and q.

The method provides an algorithm for the reliable real-time detection of sudden changes in structural health monitoring. For that, a three-step condition algorithm is applied to identify critical events in a data set.

An advantage of the invention is the translation of the measured data to reliable information, i.e., the interpretation and handling of massive amounts of data during runtime while reducing the need for additional manual data checking and strongly decreasing false-positive notifications of critical structural behavior. The evaluation of the measurement data is possible in autonomous operation during runtime.

A further advantage of the invention is the measurement and evaluation of large datasets from successive time intervals during runtime without the need of storing nor transferring the raw data.

This means that under normal structural behavior, only the relevant analysis results are saved The whole set of measurement results for a certain time interval is only stored in the case of a critical evaluation result.

The here proposed method is mainly developed for structural health monitoring of large civil structures with focus on, but not limited to the parameters stain change, cracking and crack development. The algorithm can be applied in the same way to other measurement tasks such as temperatures or inclinations. It is also suitable for monitoring the performance and health of large machines, airframes, turbines, vehicles for land, sea and ar, and structures such as buildings, bridges, dams, and stadiums. The method is also suitable to perform monitoring of individual components thereof. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the applied sensors are fiber optic sensors.

Depending on the monitored parameter, the sensors are placed on the structure at a customized distance from one another. For a continuous area coverage, a layout of partially overlapping sensors may be applied.

Preferably, the condition <NUM>) is a necessary condition whose fulfillment is verified first, and the conditions <NUM>) and <NUM>) are sufficient conditions whose fulfillment is verified afterwards.

The verification process for condition <NUM>) includes the following steps:.

Preferably, step <NUM>. <NUM>) and/ or <NUM>. <NUM>) are only performed, if the verifications of both steps <NUM>) and <NUM>) surpass their limits for sensor i.

If the limit Lm is not surpassed in process step <NUM>. <NUM>), the method preferably comprises additional steps:.

In the context of the invention, the term "output a signal" of step <NUM>) means, for example, the data output of the relevant sensors' series of the measurement parameters or the output of a notification, preferably both. The data output can be realized by storing the data of the relevant event. Preferably, the parameters measured at step <NUM>) are stored temporarily, and only the data calculated in step <NUM>) is stored permanently.

The advantage of this method is the possibility of only saving the data for the relevant sensors at a critical time. Therefore, the size of the data storage may be significantly reduced. The method allows a real-time analysis during runtime and damage detection during monitoring in combination with less required storage space and data transfer capacity.

All three conditions <NUM>), <NUM>) and <NUM>) of step <NUM>) need to be fulfilled to output a signal according to step <NUM>). The output of the signal in step <NUM>) is then only performed if all three conditions are fulfilled.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the applied sensors are fiber optic sensors that measure the strain. However, the algorithm can be applied in the same way to other measurement tasks for other measured values, such as temperatures or inclinations. Therefore, a preferred method applies temperature sensors or sensors that measure the inclination of the building. Preferably, a combination of different sensors is applied and evaluated, e.g. a combination of strain and temperature sensors.

An additional aspect of the invention relates to a computer program product that carries out the inventive method.

Furthermore, the invention is related to a storage medium that can be read by a data processing device and on which such a computer program product is stored and executed.

Another aspect of the invention is related to a use of a measuring arrangement with N sensors to measure the parameter s positioned on a building, wherein the measuring arrangement includes a data processing device that applies the inventive method.

Preferably, the availability of a stable internet connection is applied to send notifications in real-time. Alternatively, the notifications can be display with signaling devices such as traffic lights at the monitored structure's location.

The described method is sufficient for a real-time monitoring of unexpected structural changes, applying a certain number N of sensors, which are placed on the monitored structure and whereas the sensors measure a certain parameter such as strain or temperature. The method provides an algorithm for the reliable real-time detection of sudden changes in structural health monitoring systems. For that, a three-step condition algorithm is applied to identify critical events in a data set and therefore separate usual measurement results from critical data. An important advantage of this method is the translation of the measured data to reliable information, i.e. the interpretation and handling of a massive amount of data while reducing the need for additional manual data checking and strongly decreasing false-positive notifications of critical structural behavior.

Conversely, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

The following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment of the invention is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the disclosed subject matter in the context of one or more particular implementations. Various modifications to the disclosed implementations will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other implementations and applications without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

Implementations of the invention will be described, by way of example only, regarding accompanying drawings in which:.

<FIG> shows a real-time monitored building <NUM> being a prestressed hollow-core concrete bridge. The design load class is BK <NUM> (<NUM> tons wheeled type load), according to DIN <NUM>. With a width of <NUM>. It has three continuous spans <NUM> with a total length L of <NUM> (<NUM> - <NUM> - <NUM>) without coupling joints. The two center columns <NUM> are designed as individual supports with pot bearing. The superstructure is supported by two linear rocker bearings on the southern abutment <NUM>, and the northern abutment <NUM>, by two roller bearings.

<FIG> shows a part of the bridge <NUM> of <FIG> from below. There are two sets of sensors 6a, 6b placed under the bridge <NUM>. Each set 6a, 6b comprises N=<NUM> sensors along the longitudinal direction <NUM> of the bridge <NUM>. Two adjacent sensors <NUM> are visualized in <FIG>. The applied sensors <NUM> are Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) fiber optic sensors with a gauge length GL of <NUM>, where the overlapping OL of <NUM> is applied between every pair of adjacent sensors.

The monitoring system is based on a long-gauge Fiber Bragg Grating (LGFBG) sensor network installed on a prestressed concrete bridge. Statistical and quantitative parameters are continuously updated from the strain and temperature data stream using a real-time computing algorithm that performs, amongst others, a correlation analysis between adjacent sensors and allows the automatic detection of unexpected local structure changes by the minute. The algorithm is built based on redundancy to enhance its reliability and prevent false calls. Here, a three-step check is performed to handle outliers, noise, and other random and unpredictable events. That means the fulfillment of all three conditions is necessary for signal output. One important advantage of the proposed algorithm is the possibility of implementing it inside the data acquisition software and executing it during runtime. In other words, the damage detection algorithm runs parallel to the measurements, and the analysis is carried out before data storage, and data transmission take place.

The applied sampling rate is <NUM>, generating over <NUM> thousand measurement points per second for the <NUM> strain sensors placed longitudinally. The sampling rate was defined to optimize the representation of extreme values such as load peaks during the crossing of a vehicle.

As an advantage, the high sampling rate does not imply that all the measured data must be stored at the same pace. For the applied method, the analyzed dataset may rest in a temporary buffer. As soon as a batch of data is analyzed, only the statistical results are stored. The raw data is then discarded, except if the algorithm detects an anomaly, i.e., all three conditions show critical results. In the case of an anomaly, only the affected data segment is stored completely. Stress fractures are to be detected on the instrumented bridge, also the formation of new cracks in the concrete caused by other sources.

Statistical values are continuously determined from each sensor's strain data over an optimized period of time. In detail, these are the statistical mode, the arithmetic mean µ, and the peak-to-peak amplitude. The measured amplitude curves of adjacent sensors p and q are compared within a time window to show whether they are correlated. For that, the correlation coefficient is calculated and evaluated. The correlation coefficient between two adjacent sensor's measured values is usually close to <NUM> for a high sampling rate and a continuous system. If the correlation deviates from <NUM>, this is assumed to be the first indicator for a statistical discontinuity.

In this respect, this evaluation can also be used to infer existing geometric discontinuities, e.g., hollow bodies or built-in parts, or existing damage in the initial state for monitoring. Furthermore, slow changes in this parameter can also detect creeping damage processes, e.g., corrosion or fatigue. This indicator is a necessary condition for notification but cannot serve as the only sufficient one. Influences from wind or traffic loads, for example, can also lead to deviations.

Therefore, each individual sensor's the peak-to-peak amplitude is compared with a maximum permissible limit value. This can ideally be determined via an initial load test or concluded from the recorded measurement data after a certain time. Since only short periods of time are considered in each case, this amplitude parameter is independent of the temperature.

Last, as a further condition, the changes in each sensor's statistical modes are compared with the value determined in the last analyzed period. Sudden changes in the structure lead to a jump in amplitude for this parameter. The parameter itself captures long-term changes, such as the ones due to temperature influence, but is independent of them in the continuous comparative evaluation.

Appropriate thresholds must be established for all three indicators. In contrast to existing approaches, however, these do not refer to the measured values per se, but to derived parameters, each of which is particularly sensitive to different factors: the mode to the temperature, the peak-to-peak amplitude to the traffic load, and the correlation coefficients to the static system. This can significantly increase the stability of the method. Only if all three indicators show critical values, a notification is triggered.

The innovation lies in the combination of the three different evaluations and the traceability to different influences.

Claim 1:
Method for real-time detection of sudden changes during structural health monitoring, applying a certain number N of sensors (<NUM>), which are placed on a monitored structure (<NUM>) to measure a parameter si(tk) at the time tk, comprising the following steps:
<NUM>) Determining at least two consecutive series of the measurement parameters si(tk) of all N sensors for a moving time window tw with a defined block length n and sampling rate r
<NUM>) Using a data processing device to verify whether of the following conditions are fulfilled:
<NUM>) a correlation coefficient ρpq of the measured parameters of two related sensors p and q is smaller than a limit Lac
<NUM>) a signal amplitude of the measured parameters of one of the sensors p and q is higher than a limit AL
<NUM>) a difference of two consecutive mean values of the measured parameters of one of the sensors p and q is higher than a limit Lm
<NUM>) If all three conditions <NUM>), <NUM>) and <NUM>) of the conditions of step <NUM>) are fulfilled, output a signal.