Vibration-based post-fire structural condition assessment

This PhD project focuses on the non-destructive identification of the residual load-bearing capacity of reinforced concrete structural elements and connections after a fire event. The aim is to investigate the potential of dynamic quasi-distributed fiber optic strain sensing for obtaining global and cross-sectional stiffness properties in terms of neutral axis positions under pure bending deformation. The investigation will also involve the statistical assessment of identification errors as well as optimal experiment design. Based on the results, a new methodology for post-fire structural assessment will be developed, tested, and implemented on beam and plate structures.