Estimation of structural deformed configuration for bridges using multi-response measurement data

The structural deformed shape (SDS) is considered an important factor for evaluating structural conditions owing to its direct relationship with structural stiffness. Recently, an SDS estimation method based on displacement data from a limited number of data points was developed. Although the method showed good performance with a sufficient number of measured data points, application of the SDS estimation method for on-site structures has been quite limited because collecting sufficient displacement data measured from a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) can be quite expensive. Thus, the development of an affordable SDS estimation method with a certain level of accuracy is essential for field application of the SDS estimation technique. This paper proposes an improved SDS estimation method using displacement data combined with additional slope and strain data that can improve the accuracy of the SDS estimation method and reduce the required number of GNSSs. The estimation algorithm was established based on shape superposition with various combined response data (displacement, slope, and strain) and the least-squares method. The proposed SDS estimation method was verified using a finite element method model. In the validation process, three important issues that may affect the estimation accuracy were analyzed: effect of shape function type, sensor placement method, and effectiveness of using multi-response data. Then, the improved SDS estimation method developed in this study was compared with existing SDS estimation methods from the literature. Consequently, it was found that the proposed method can reduce the number of displacement data required to estimate rational SDS by using additional slope and strain data. It is expected that cost-effective structural health monitoring (SHM) can be established using the proposed estimation method.