Damage detection based on structural response to temperature changes and model updating

The paper proposes use of measured structural response to temperature loads for purposes of damage identification. As opposed to the most common approaches, which rely on suppressing temperature effects in damage detection, the method proposed herein utilises measured changes of structural sensitivity to temperature loads. Applicability of this approach varies by structural type and therefore results of system identification are presented for different structural types. The method aims at identifying structural damages that produce stiffness change as well as deformation states and boundary condition stiffness. In particular, the method is applicable for evaluations without available measurements known as healthy baseline. Presented examples comprise 2 bridge monitoring applications.