Detection of anomalous structural behaviour using wavelet analysis

Abstract

Structural health monitoring (SHM) can be defined as the continuous monitoring of a bridge’s state properties, such as static and dynamic response, in order to diagnose the onset of anomalous structural behaviour. This involves measuring and evaluating the state properties and relating these to defined performance parameters. The process of measuring state properties, either continuously or periodically, produces large quantities of data and by careful analysis of these data, sudden and gradual changes in the bridge’s behaviour can be identified and characterised. The ability of wavelet transforms to detect abrupt changes, gradual change beginnings and ends of events make them well suited for the analysis of bridge health monitoring data. This paper presents the application of wavelet analysis to identify events and changes in structural state in a bridge during and after its construction.