Project Number: SM 281/14-1

Funding Agent: German Research Foundation (“Deutsches Forschungsgemeinschaft”, DFG), Bonn, Germany

Duration: 2019-2021

Project title: Data-driven analysis models for slender structures using explainable artificial intelligence

Project Coordinator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kay Smarsly, Professor, Institute for Digital and Autonomous Construction (IDAC), Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Germany (formerly at Bauhaus University Weimar, Germany)

Project Cooperation: Prof. George Manolis, Laboratory for Experimental Mechanics (LEM), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Greece

Damage detection issues in civil engineering infrastructure components within the context of (SHM) is relevant as environmentally-induced loads are becoming intense due to climate change. This is also important in view of the ageing of infrastructure in the EU and of the need for means to monitor structures so as to propose and implement retrofit strategies.

Two basic categories of infrastructure were identified: (i) pylons that support power lines, telecommunications and energy generation and (ii) highway overpass, single-span bridges for pedestrians and small-volume traffic. These structures support two categories of external loads, namely the standard design loads, as well as environmentally induced loads. These structures are to be modeled, tested in both the field and the laboratory using both wireless sensor nodes and cable-based sensors. The data recovered will be used with an artificial intelligence environment to formulate damage detection methods.

For more information, check:

https://www.tuhh.de/idac/research/explainable-artificial-intelligence.html

Project Number: SM 281/20-1

Funding Agent: German Research Foundation (“Deutsches Forschungsgemeinschaft”, DFG), Bonn, Germany

Duration: 2021-2024

Project title: Resilient infrastructure based on cognitive buildings

Project Coordinator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kay Smarsly, Professor, Institute for Digital and Autonomous Construction (IDAC), Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Germany (formerly at Bauhaus University Weimar, Germany)

Project Cooperation: Prof. George Manolis, Laboratory for Experimental Mechanics (LEM), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Greece

This research follows the completion a DFG-funded, German-Greek joint research project conducted to initiate an international collaboration, and will be realized in two research lines: One research line to be supervised by TUHH and the other research line to be conducted by AUTH through a Mercator fellowship. The objective of the research project pertains to embedding physics-based models into wireless SHM/SC systems, which is a topic that has received scarce attention so far. The end result of the project will essentially comprise an extension to the cognitive buildings paradigm by integrating SHM/SC-obtained information into structural operation and maintenance, which will be leveraged to enhance infrastructure resilience. The expected outcome of the proposed research is a methodology for efficiently embedding decentralized physics-based models into wireless SHM/SC systems to advance infrastructure resilience. It is further expected that this project will contribute to enhancing the performance of wireless SHM/SC systems and to integrating infrastructure systems into the concepts of “Industry 4.0”, “Smart City”, and the “Internet of Everything”. This research project marks a shift towards an entirely new paradigm in embedded computing for wireless SHM/SC, in accordance with ongoing trends that facilitate the development of resilient infrastructure in light of climate change.

For more information, check:

https://www.tuhh.de/idac/research/resilient-infrastructure.html