Structural integrity assessment system: global damage identification

Recently, interest in applying monitoring systems to structures for quality assurance and for evaluating seismic risk has been strong. Despite numerous studies on detecting damage sites and extent, no overall system has been developed to estimate structural integrity. We therefore developed a monitoring system, called a structural integrity assessment system, for damage identification (global or local) and subsequent diagnosis, repair, and reinforcement. This system is based on a global damage identification strategy involving two steps, each using a different method. This strategy is first to identify the damage at the story level by using a neural networks method, and then to narrow and locate the damage sites in detail by using an improved MDLAC (Multiple Damage Location Assurance Criterion) method. To validate this strategy and our structural integrity assessment system, we tested it on a scaled 5-story building. The results show that this strategy is practical and effective.