Formulation of 3D temperature signatures for temperature driven structural health monitoring

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) seeks to assess the integrity of a structure using installed sensors and a variety of structural and data analyses. Each structure requires a unique monitoring plan, using one of several techniques undergoing research and implementation around the world. One unifying factor across the behavior of all structures is the influence of temperature on the structure. In many bridges, daily temperature changes can cause larger resulting strains than daily traffic loads. Despite this significance of temperature in structural behavior, temperature plays a comparatively smaller role in most contemporary methods of SHM. Temperature-Driven SHM (TD-SHM) includes temperature as the driving force in structural behavior, relating temperature as an input to resulting strain and displacement. These three measurable quantities form a three dimensional, damage sensitive signature for different locations on the structure. Each structure will have different strain and displacement profiles for different temperatures. These signatures combine the varying strain and displacement profiles into one model, in order to capture normal patterns of life for the structure. This inclusion of temperature as the main input in analysis allows for a deeper comprehension of the structural behavior than when ignoring, filtering out, or compensating for temperature. Two different types of three dimensional temperature signatures are proposed as a way to characterize structural behavior and detect future damage on the structure. These methods are validated using data from a real structure; Streicker Bridge on camps at Princeton University.