Funded Projects

Structures within the built environment need to be field tested when analytical assessment methods cannot provide sufficient information on their condition. Such scenarios include testing of older structures whose design plans may no longer be available, structures that are shown to be inadequate using analytical methods but are believed to have additional capacity based on field performance, structures whose properties and support conditions change over time due to environmental exposure, and structures that are damaged from hazards such as earthquakes or collisions. Information collected through field load testing is critical for updating analytical assessment methods and making decisions on whether to allow structures to remain operational. Load testing of a structure involves instrumentation and loading of the structure, both of which may disrupt service and limit access to or within the vicinity of the structure. To reduce service disruption times and the costs associated with them, time- and cost-efficient instrumentation methods are needed for field load testing. The objective of this research is to investigate new sensing devices that can be safely and efficiently deployed using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to minimize down times to structures during load testing. The project will evaluate the precision and reliability of these sensing methods, their compatibility with UAV deployment, and their suitability for field use. This project complements existing research on visual structural inspection using UAV-mounted cameras for damage detection but is different because it focuses on collecting quantitative data for structures under loading. Data of interest are displacements and rotations across a structure as well as locations of measurements and loading. This project involves two Coin-holders from different departments and a new investigator.