Decision-Support-System for the Rehabilitation of

Buildings: The MEMSCON Project

RISA Sicherheitsanalysen GmbH

Berlin

1st MEMSCON Event - 07 October 2010, Bucharest

Objectives

To assess structural damage in a monitored reinforced concrete building after an earthquake and to select the best repair method and determine its cost.

To assess structural deterioration in a monitored reinforced concrete building because of differential settlement between foundations and to select the best repair or strengthening method and determine its cost.

1st MEMSCON Event - 07 October 2010, Bucharest

DSS

Definition of DSS An integrated software package to support decision

makers (managers) by providing accurate and fast information as a base for a decision. Explains the solution and rationale The assimilation and filtering of data Assists with problem recognition Assists with problem solving Presents the results into a cohesive package

1st MEMSCON Event - 07 October 2010, Bucharest

Modules and Data Flow

Civil engineering software to assess internal forces at the columns of the ground floor

and from these the differential settlements between foundations

Finite element analysis to access the safety

factor of the structural elements and the

identification of the locations requiring

repair or strengthening

Civil engineering software to select

repair or strengthening

methods and assess their costs

Initial conditions at the time of the earthquake

Civil engineering software for seismic

damage

Local degree of seismic damage (in

each structural element) and global

instability

Civil engineering software to select

repair and strengthening

methods and costs

Acceleration measurements

during an earthquake

Measurements of strain at the

columns’ bottom cross-section at the ground floor level

1st MEMSCON Event - 07 October 2010, Bucharest

System architecture of the DSS

General Architecture of the Software in the Proposed DSS.

Actual sensor data

Data Base Calculation modules

User Interface Query

Manager

Data Manager

EXPERT SYSTEM

Knowledge Base

1st MEMSCON Event - 07 October 2010, Bucharest

Expert System

The expert system acts and behaves like a human expert in the field of Structural Monitoring

It acts as intelligent intermediary that handles the system resources in order to respond effectively to the user queries

Ensures the successful integration and coordination of all individual modules.

Self-contained black-box modules can be plugged in and out with minimal overall system modifications.

1st MEMSCON Event - 07 October 2010, Bucharest

Expert System

The expert system consists of a collection of integrated and related components, including

User Interface: provides visualization of the results calculated by other modules in a textual and graphical manner

Query Manager: schedules proper sub-query processing actions, interacts with the data manager , translates the user request to appropriate subroutine calls

Data Manager: provides suitable data to caller modules, according to the module’s particular view

1st MEMSCON Event - 07 October 2010, Bucharest

Knowledge base and Database

The knowledge base assembles the knowledge of multiple human experts.

The Database stores all relevant information, data (structural element information and sensor measurements), rules, cases, and relationships used by the expert system.

1st MEMSCON Event - 07 October 2010, Bucharest

Developed DSS 1/2

Building status Viewer

The Graphical User Interface: provides the graphical environment with which the end-user will retrieve current and historical data from the DB provides real-time alerts and warnings in case of abnormal situations allows the end-user to examine different scenarios for hypothetical situations

1st MEMSCON Event - 07 October 2010, Bucharest

Developed DSS 2/3

Common interface with Sap2000 and ETABS.Establish a connection to the ETABS DB and create a robust data management application.Retrieve data concerning the structural elements (columns, beams) of any building in use.Update or add data to structure

1st MEMSCON Event - 07 October 2010, Bucharest

Developed DSS 3/3

Strain sensor measurements viewer

Graphic representation of data retrieved from the Sensor DB is supported, according to the context in which they are requestedMechanism for simulation of earthquakes

1st MEMSCON Event - 07 October 2010, Bucharest

Conclusions

So far, the results show that DSS corresponds to engineers' needs

The main advantage seems to be the integration of several expert opinions and cutting-edge methodologies

The approach has potential applications to other engineering tasks (bridges)

1st MEMSCON Event - 07 October 2010, Bucharest

Thank you for your attention

1st MEMSCON Event - 07 October 2010, Bucharest