Physics-Informed Sensitivity Analysis for Enhanced Structural Health Assessment: Test-Case for a Mixed Steel-Concrete Bridge
2026-06-15 • Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
AI summaryⓘ
The authors created a detailed computer model of a two-span steel and concrete bridge to study how it behaves under different conditions. Their goal is to help monitor the bridge's health by combining physics-based simulations with sensitivity analysis, which finds out which parts of the bridge affect its performance the most. This helps predict possible problems and understand uncertainties in the structure's response, especially as bridges age and face more traffic and extreme weather. Their work supports safer and more reliable bridge management during normal use and emergencies.
structural health monitoringsensitivity analysisnumerical modelsteel-concrete bridgestructural responseuncertainty quantificationprognosticsinfrastructure agingextreme weathermechanical loading
Authors
Jacopo Bonari, Francesca Marsili, Max von Danwitz, Alexander Popp
Abstract
Bridges are vital components of transportation systems, that serve as essential links ensuring the safe and efficient movement of people, goods, and emergency responders, especially during crises. With aging infrastructures, increasing traffic volumes and loads, and the intensifying impacts of extreme weather events due to climate change, the development of effective physics-informed structural health monitoring (SHM) frameworks has become critically important, more so when combined with sensitivity analysis (SA), which identifies the most influential structural parameters in the bridge's response. To support this, a high-fidelity, physics-based numerical model of a full-scale, two-span, mixed steel-concrete test bridge has been developed. This model serves as a virtual replica of a real structure located at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich. The numerical model is used as a complementary tool to improve prognostic capabilities and quantify uncertainty. A SA study is conducted to evaluate the structure's response under various mechanical conditions. Assessing these operational variations' effects on structural behavior forms part of an integrated, systematic evaluation framework aimed at combining SHM and SA.