Numerical Model Development of Reinforced Concrete Beam for Structural Health Monitoring

Abstract

Reinforced concrete (RC) structures are used in various engineering projects of all sizes and shapes. In order to maintain its safety and serviceability, it is necessary to evaluate the durability of an existing structure by conducting structural health monitoring. Thus, the main problem of this study is the lack of inspection, and no predictive maintenance is performed in the existing structure because the conventional method of structure monitoring needs a high cost to execute. Therefore, it will cause structural deterioration and lead to structural failure. In this study, a numerical model of RC beam was developed by using Finite Element Software. The research objective is to validate the real experimental work by using numerical model of RC beam in Marc Mentat software and investigates the potential of the numerical model development for structural health monitoring. In order to achieve the objectives, Marc Mentat software was used to develop a numerical model of RC beam, which validates the results based on the previous experimental work. Next, the qualitative data were collected through an interview session with several experienced Engineers and Project Managers to investigate the potential of the developed numerical model. The collected data were analyzed by executing content analysis and represented in the form of a matrix table. It is found that the numerical analysis produces the same tendencies as previous experimental results. So, the numerical model could validate the experimental work with no significant difference. Moreover, all the respondents agreed that this numerical approach has the potential to be implemented in the structural health monitoring work. This study suggested an alternative method of monitoring the structural conditions. This numerical method promises precise data in real-time with a minimum cost and time compared to the conventional method.