ABSTRACT
An ideal smart civil structure is expected to possess self-sensing, self-adaptive, self-diagnostic, self-repairing and self-powered functions to confidently preserve the functionality, safety and integrity of the structures in various environmental conditions, as discussed in Chapter 1. Civil structures with one or more of the aforementioned functions have been introduced in Chapters 12–18, but none of them possesses all of these smart functions. The life-cycle management (LCM) of the ideal smart civil structures defined in Chapter 1 has therefore not been explored to date, although the LCM of ordinary civil structures has been actively investigated and implemented. However, the LCM of ordinary civil structures is subject to many uncertainties, and the reliability of existing LCM is difficult to quantify. This chapter therefore explores how to integrate structural health monitoring (SHM) technology with the LCM of civil structures. The concept of SHM-based LCM of civil structures is first introduced. Some preliminary works by the first author and his research team are then presented by taking the Tsing Ma suspension bridge in Hong Kong as an example.
