Integrated process of images and acceleration measurements for damage detection

The use of mobile robots and UAV to catch unthinkable images together with on-site global automated acceleration measurements easy achievable by wireless sensors, able of remote data transfer, have strongly enhanced the capability of defect and damage evaluation in bridges. A sequential procedure is, here, proposed for damage monitoring and bridge condition assessment based on both: digital image processing for survey and defect evaluation and structural identification based on acceleration measurements. A steel bridge has been simultaneously inspected by UAV to acquire images using visible light, or infrared radiation, and monitored through a wireless sensor network (WSN) measuring structural vibrations. First, image processing has been used to construct a geometrical model and to quantify corrosion extension. Then, the consistent structural model has been updated based on the modal quantities identified using the acceleration measurements acquired by the deployed WSN. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.