Life Cycle Assessment of Deteriorating Structures and Infrastructure

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closed (20 May 2023)

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Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are inviting submissions to the Topical Collection on “Life Cycle Assessment of Deteriorating Structures and Infrastructure”. Many structures and infrastructures are operating beyond their design lifetime and are being exposed to numerous human and human-induced hazards whose frequency of occurrence as well as intensity is exhibiting an increasing trend. Increased traffic loads on bridges along with heavy use of existing structures with aging are also eroding the structural safety and exposing communities to unprecedented risks, which are exacerbated by climate change effects. In this context, the lack of resources for retrofit and risk mitigation poses several challenges to structure and infrastructure asset managers. These issues call for the improvement of current approaches for evaluating the state of infrastructure and the hazards they are exposed to as well as to design new structures and infrastructure systems that will safely perform during their design life. This Topical Collection aims to address the outlined challenges by welcoming articles related to (but not limited to) the following topics:

• aging of existing structures/infrastructure exposed to natural and human-induced hazards (e.g., corrosion and strength degradation, fatigue due to traffic/wind loading in bridges, effects of operation of building contents on industrial facilities);
• design and assessment of structures/infrastructure systems accounting for aging and nonstationary/time-dependent loading effects;
• deterministic/probabilistic models for simulation of hazards and relevant effects that also account for the impact of climate change; 
• models and methodologies for damage cumulation under earthquake sequences (mainshock–aftershock or repeated earthquake events), floods, wind, etc;
• methodologies for resilience assessment under single and multiple hazards (e.g., flood, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc.); 
• monitoring techniques and strategies for effects and structural state assessment, including continuous monitoring and post-shock assessment);
• data-driven assessment of structural response based on artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques;
• consequence-based engineering at different scales (from hazard to societal impact) and decision making under uncertainty.

The target audience of this Topical Collection includes academics, specialists, researchers, and professionals who are working and interested in the topics outlined above.

Dr. Enrico Tubaldi
Dr. Luigi Di Sarno
Prof. Dr. Michele Barbato
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Buildings buildings	3.1	3.4	2011	15.3 Days	CHF 2600
CivilEng civileng	-	2.8	2020	24.4 Days	CHF 1200
Infrastructures infrastructures	2.7	5.2	2016	17.8 Days	CHF 1800
Materials materials	3.1	5.8	2008	13.9 Days	CHF 2600
Sensors sensors	3.4	7.3	2001	18.6 Days	CHF 2600
Standards standards	-	-	2021	30.6 Days	CHF 1000

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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All Buildings CivilEng Infrastructures Materials Sensors Standards

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18 pages, 16772 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Life Cycle Cost Method for Safe and Effective Infrastructure Asset Management

by WonJoon Oh, ChoongYeun Cho and MinJae Lee

Buildings 2023, 13(8), 1983; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13081983 - 3 Aug 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1650

Abstract

Existing maintenance management systems implement periodic inspections and diagnoses and perform maintenance to restore damaged facilities, making it difficult to establish a long-term and analytical budget plan. The Framework Act on Sustainable Infrastructure Management necessitates specific implementation plans for new implementation items. This [...] Read more.

Existing maintenance management systems implement periodic inspections and diagnoses and perform maintenance to restore damaged facilities, making it difficult to establish a long-term and analytical budget plan. The Framework Act on Sustainable Infrastructure Management necessitates specific implementation plans for new implementation items. This study proposes a detailed method for estimating infrastructure management cost to overcome the limitations of the post-response maintenance system and establish a management plan for the Framework Act on Sustainable Infrastructure Management, considering the performance and cost effects in terms of the life cycle. The method was classified into the following stages: analysis of the performance degradation timing by deriving the performance degradation curve, analysis of proper construction methods by performance grade to establish a cost model for each member grade, representative life assessment of the establishment to determine the end-of-life of members, and analysis of optimal action timing for establishing short/mid- to long-term repair and reinforcement plans. The proposed method was applied to a water reservoir (99 reservoirs in Seoul, Korea). The performance degradation and cost prediction models for the target establishment were analyzed. The proposed method can be applied to the maintenance decision making of the management agency and is significant for efficient infrastructure maintenance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Life Cycle Assessment of Deteriorating Structures and Infrastructure)

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27 pages, 113780 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Self-Sensing Rubber for Bridge Bearing Monitoring

by Alessandra Orfeo, Enrico Tubaldi, Jack McAlorum, Marcus Perry, Hamid Ahmadi and Hazel McDonald

Sensors 2023, 23(6), 3150; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23063150 - 15 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2053

Abstract

Elastomeric bearings are widely used in bridges to support the superstructure, to transfer loads to substructures, and to accommodate movements induced by, for example, temperature changes. Bearing mechanical properties affect the bridge’s performance and its response to permanent and variable loadings (e.g., traffic). [...] Read more.

Elastomeric bearings are widely used in bridges to support the superstructure, to transfer loads to substructures, and to accommodate movements induced by, for example, temperature changes. Bearing mechanical properties affect the bridge’s performance and its response to permanent and variable loadings (e.g., traffic). This paper describes the research carried out at Strathclyde towards the development of smart elastomeric bearings that can be used as a low−cost sensing technology for bridge and/or weigh−in−motion monitoring. An experimental campaign was performed, under laboratory conditions, on various natural rubber (NR) specimens enhanced with different conductive fillers. Each specimen was characterized under loading conditions that replicated in−situ bearings to determine their mechanical and piezoresistive properties. Relatively simple models can be used to describe the relationship between rubber bearing resistivity and deformation changes. Gauge factors (GFs) in the range between 2 and 11 are obtained, depending on the compound and the applied loading. Experiments were also carried out to show that the developed model can be used to predict the state of deformation of the bearings under random loadings of different amplitudes that are characteristic of the passage of traffic over a bridge. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Life Cycle Assessment of Deteriorating Structures and Infrastructure)

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17 pages, 495 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Determination of Shear Capacity for Load Rating of Concrete Bridges to AS 5100.7-2017

by Koon Wan Wong and Vanissorn Vimonsatit

Infrastructures 2022, 7(11), 156; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures7110156 - 17 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2871

Abstract

According to Modified Compression Field Theory (MCFT), the ultimate shear capacity of a reinforced concrete section depends on load effects (shear, moment, torsion, and axial force) caused by factored design loads. In many design standards, including Australian AS 5100.7, MCFT has been incorporated [...] Read more.

According to Modified Compression Field Theory (MCFT), the ultimate shear capacity of a reinforced concrete section depends on load effects (shear, moment, torsion, and axial force) caused by factored design loads. In many design standards, including Australian AS 5100.7, MCFT has been incorporated for bridge assessment, which requires a load rating to be carried out according to the loading of the nominated rating vehicle as prescribed in the standard. Recently, some approaches have been proposed for bridge load rating that have suggested using an iterative-search procedure to determine the shear capacity by proportionally increasing the load effects until the shear capacity and shear are equal. This paper describes several adverse effects of using the proportional load, which is not consistent with the characteristic of the vehicle loading, to determine the shear capacity for load rating. Numerical examples of two bridge beams, one simply supported and the other continuous, are presented to demonstrate that the characteristic of the load effects caused by a moving vehicle is not representable by proportional load effects. Furthermore, the current practice in the bridge load rating does not load rate the longitudinal steel capacity in resisting the axial force induced by the load effects of the rating vehicle. This paper presents a new approach to the load rating that separately accounts for the load effect for axial failure mode of the longitudinal steel. Finally, it is pointed out that locating the critical section where the rating factor is minimum is tedious but can be automated by integrating load rating into the analysis of load effects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Life Cycle Assessment of Deteriorating Structures and Infrastructure)

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26 pages, 2776 KiB  

Open AccessReview

Concurrent AtC Multiscale Modeling of Material Coupled Thermo-Mechanical Behaviors: A Review

by Yang Lu, Stephen Thomas and Tian Jie Zhang

CivilEng 2022, 3(4), 1013-1038; https://doi.org/10.3390/civileng3040057 - 15 Nov 2022

Viewed by 1877

Abstract

Advances in the field of processing and characterization of material behaviors are driving innovations in materials design at a nanoscale. Thus, it is demanding to develop physics-based computational methods that can advance the understanding of material Multiphysics behaviors from a bottom-up manner at [...] Read more.

Advances in the field of processing and characterization of material behaviors are driving innovations in materials design at a nanoscale. Thus, it is demanding to develop physics-based computational methods that can advance the understanding of material Multiphysics behaviors from a bottom-up manner at a higher level of precision. Traditional computational modeling techniques such as finite element analysis (FE) and molecular dynamics (MD) fail to fully explain experimental observations at the nanoscale because of the inherent nature of each method. Concurrently coupled atomic to the continuum (AtC) multi-scale material models have the potential to meet the needs of nano-scale engineering. With the goal of representing atomistic details without explicitly treating every atom, the AtC coupling provides a framework to ensure that full atomistic detail is retained in regions of the problem while continuum assumptions reduce the computational demand. This review is intended to provide an on-demand review of the AtC methods for simulating thermo-mechanical behavior. Emphasis is given to the fundamental concepts necessary to understand several coupling methods that have been developed. Three methods that couple mechanical behavior, three methods that couple thermal behavior, and three methods that couple thermo-mechanical behavior is reviewed to provide an evolutionary perspective of the thermo-mechanical coupling methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Life Cycle Assessment of Deteriorating Structures and Infrastructure)

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19 pages, 4428 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

A Bayesian Pipe Failure Prediction for Optimizing Pipe Renewal Time in Water Distribution Networks

by Widyo Nugroho, Christiono Utomo and Nur Iriawan

Infrastructures 2022, 7(10), 136; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures7100136 - 13 Oct 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3082

Abstract

The sustainable management of the water supply system requires methodologies to monitor, repair, or replace the aging infrastructure, but more importantly, it must be able to assess the condition of the networks and predict their behavior over time. Among other infrastructure systems, the [...] Read more.

The sustainable management of the water supply system requires methodologies to monitor, repair, or replace the aging infrastructure, but more importantly, it must be able to assess the condition of the networks and predict their behavior over time. Among other infrastructure systems, the water distribution network is one of the essential civil infrastructure systems; therefore, the effective maintenance and renewal of the infrastructure’s physical assets are essential. This article aims to determine pipe failure prediction to optimize pipe renewal time. This research methodology investigates the most appropriate parameters for predicting pipe failure in the optimization. In particular, the non-homogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) with the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach is presented for Bayesian inference, while maximum likelihood (ML) is applied for frequentist inference as a comparison method. It is concluded that the two estimations are relatively appropriate for predicting failures, but MCMC estimation is closer to the total observed data. Based on life-cycle cost (LCC) analysis, the MCMC estimation generates flatter LCC curves and lower LCC values than the ML estimation, which affects the decision making of optimum pipe renewal in water distribution networks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Life Cycle Assessment of Deteriorating Structures and Infrastructure)

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19 pages, 2767 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Corrosion-Fatigue Life Prediction of the U-Shaped Beam in Urban Rail Transit under a Chloride Attack Environment

by Guixiang Chen, Mingjie Wang, Chenxing Cui and Qingzhang Zhang

Materials 2022, 15(17), 5902; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15175902 - 26 Aug 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1733

Abstract

The coupled effect of the chloride attack environment and train load seriously affects the safety and durability of urban rail transit viaducts and dramatically reduces their service life. In this research, a corrosion-fatigue life prediction model of the prestressed concrete (PC) beam under [...] Read more.

The coupled effect of the chloride attack environment and train load seriously affects the safety and durability of urban rail transit viaducts and dramatically reduces their service life. In this research, a corrosion-fatigue life prediction model of the prestressed concrete (PC) beam under the coupled effect of the chloride attack environment and train load was developed. This proposed model was illustrated by a 30 m-span PC U-shaped beam in an urban rail transit viaduct. The competitive relationship between concrete fatigue cracking time, non-prestressed reinforcement corrosion initiation time, and concrete corrosion-induced cracking time was discussed. The effects of train frequency, the chloride attack environment grade, and the environmental temperature and relative humidity were investigated on corrosion-fatigue life. Results indicate that train frequency, the chloride attack environment grade, and the environmental temperature can reduce the corrosion-fatigue life of a U-shaped beam by up to 30.0%, 50.7%, and 21.5%, respectively. A coupled chloride attack environment and train frequency can reduce the corrosion-fatigue life by up to 61.2%. Distinct from the environmental temperature, the change of relative humidity has little effect on the corrosion-fatigue life of the U-shaped beam. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Life Cycle Assessment of Deteriorating Structures and Infrastructure)

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21 pages, 1441 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

The BosWash Infrastructure Biome and Energy System Succession

by Jessica Wright, Robert Ackley, Sucharita Gopal and Nathan Phillips

Infrastructures 2022, 7(7), 95; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures7070095 - 19 Jul 2022

Viewed by 9619

Abstract

The BosWash corridor is a megalopolis, or large urbanized region composed of interconnected transportation, infrastructure, physiography, and sociopolitical systems. Previous work has not considered the BosWash corridor as an integrated, holistic ecosystem. Building on the emerging field of infrastructure ecology, the region is [...] Read more.

The BosWash corridor is a megalopolis, or large urbanized region composed of interconnected transportation, infrastructure, physiography, and sociopolitical systems. Previous work has not considered the BosWash corridor as an integrated, holistic ecosystem. Building on the emerging field of infrastructure ecology, the region is conceptualized here as an infrastructure biome, and this concept is applied to the region’s energy transition to a post-fossil fueled heating sector, in analogy to ecosystem succession. In this conception, infrastructure systems are analogous to focal species. A case study for an energy succession from an aging natural gas infrastructure to a carbon-free heating sector is presented, in order to demonstrate the utility of the infrastructure biome framework to address climate and energy challenges facing BosWash communities. Natural gas is a dominant energy source that emits carbon dioxide when burned and methane when leaked along the process chain; therefore, a transition to electricity is widely seen as necessary toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Utilizing an infrastructure biome framework for energy policy, a regional gas transition plan akin to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is generated to harmonize natural gas transition within the BosWash infrastructure biome and resolve conflict arising from a siloed approach to infrastructure management at individual city and state levels. This work generates and utilizes the novel infrastructure biome concept to prescribe a regional energy policy for an element of infrastructure that has not previously been explored at the regional scale—natural gas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Life Cycle Assessment of Deteriorating Structures and Infrastructure)

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