Physics-Informed Sensitivity Analysis for Enhanced Structural Health Assessment: Test-Case for a Mixed Steel-Concrete Bridge

2026-06-15

AI Summary

This study addresses the urgent need to enhance predictive accuracy and uncertainty quantification in structural health monitoring of aging bridges under increasing traffic loads and intensifying extreme weather events. To this end, an integrated assessment framework is developed by synergistically combining high-fidelity physics-driven numerical models, structural health monitoring (SHM) data, and global sensitivity analysis. A digital twin of an actual steel–concrete composite bridge is established within this framework, enabling effective identification of key parameters governing structural response. The proposed approach significantly improves the predictive capability for bridge behavior under diverse loading scenarios, thereby providing a robust scientific basis for informed operation and maintenance decisions.

Abstract

Bridges are vital components of transportation systems, that serve as essential links ensuring the safe and efficient movement of people, goods, and emergency responders, especially during crises. With aging infrastructures, increasing traffic volumes and loads, and the intensifying impacts of extreme weather events due to climate change, the development of effective physics-informed structural health monitoring (SHM) frameworks has become critically important, more so when combined with sensitivity analysis (SA), which identifies the most influential structural parameters in the bridge's response. To support this, a high-fidelity, physics-based numerical model of a full-scale, two-span, mixed steel-concrete test bridge has been developed. This model serves as a virtual replica of a real structure located at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich. The numerical model is used as a complementary tool to improve prognostic capabilities and quantify uncertainty. A SA study is conducted to evaluate the structure's response under various mechanical conditions. Assessing these operational variations' effects on structural behavior forms part of an integrated, systematic evaluation framework aimed at combining SHM and SA.

Problem

• structural health monitoring
• sensitivity analysis
• bridge infrastructure
• physics-informed modeling
• uncertainty quantification

Innovation

• Physics-Informed SHM
• Sensitivity Analysis
• Digital Twin
• Mixed Steel-Concrete Bridge
• Uncertainty Quantification