SHMO1000 Structural Health Monitoring Emneplan

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is the process of implementing an automated damage detection and quantification strategy for civil engineering infrastructure such as bridges and other major constructions. The existing bridge infrastructure in Europe and globally is aging rapidly. Moreover, these bridges are exposed to much higher traffic loads than they had been designed for. In Norway, the Norwegian Road Authority and the Railway Directorate together are responsible for the maintenance and control of over 20 000 bridges. Currently, the maintenance of bridges is based on manual inspection procedures and is very time consuming.

To ensure the safety and serviceability of existing bridges, structural health monitoring procedures starts to find their ways in standard procedures as well as in maintenance- and monitoring standards. This course will provide in-depth knowledge of structural health monitoring procedures with a special focus on those that do not affect the usual operation of the bridges.

Bachelor’s degree in structural, civil or mechanical engineering.

After completing the course, the student is expected to achieve the following learning

outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence.

Knowledge:

The student

• Has knowledge about the concept of Structural Health Monitoring and is able to identify the most common methods used in SHM

• Has knowledge about sensors and sensing technology for SHM

• Has knowledge about dynamic behavior of structures

• Has advanced knowledge about structural damage identification techniques  

Skills

The student is capable of:

• Designing an optimum instrumentation scheme for SHM

• Carrying out modal identification from recorded data to estimate the mode shapes and vibration frequencies of structures

• Conducting damage identification using vibration-based and finite element model updating methods

• Critically evaluating the results of damage identification for quality control

General Competence: 

The student is capable of:

• Analyzing the complexity and assessing the possibility for SHM for civil engineering infrastructure

• Choosing the best method for damage detection in complex structures for SHM

• Providing creative solutions for safety evaluation of critical infrastructure

Two sessions of three days each at the campus will be arranged during the semester with classical lectures as well as discussions and experience exchange. Video lectures of the course material will be provided regularly throughout the semester and will serve, together with the course material, as the basis of self-study. The course will follow the recent research and development in the field of Structural Health Monitoring and research articles will be part of the syllabus.

None

Portfolio assessment of the following:

1) Individual project report, approx. 20-30 pages

2) Three individual assignments with a scope of approximately 10-12 pages

Each student’s work will be assessed together as portfolio with one individual grade at the end of the semester, but the two parts that make up the portfolio must be assessed as “pass” in order for the student to pass the course. The overall assessment can be appealed.If a student fails the portfolio assessment, he/she will get an opportunity to resubmit the portfolio.

All aids are permitted.

Graded scale: A-F

Two internal sensors.

The course is tailored for students with a bachelor’s degree in structural, civil or mechanical

engineering or higher degree and holds a position in a relevant public and private institution

or consultancy company. The course is very relevant for those who are working with civil engineering infrastructure, especially railway and road bridges.