Damage detection and calibration from beam–moving oscillator interaction employing surface roughness

The possibility of employing bridge deck surface roughness for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) under operational conditions is proposed in this paper. A bilinear breathing crack in a damaged Euler–Bernoulli beam traversed by a moving oscillator is considered in this regard. The Road Surface Roughness (RSR) of the beam is classified as per ISO 8606:1995(E). The interaction of the moving oscillator with surface roughness is exploited to define simple, consistent, easy to implement and robust statistical descriptors to detect and calibrate the existence, the location and the extent of damage. The effects of vehicle speed and variable RSR profiles for such detection are investigated and preferable conditions for detection are identified. The proposed method is also suitable for experimental analysis where a theoretical model is not available or is not credibly ascertained.