Structural Identification of Constructed Systems: An Integrated Approach by the ASCE Committee

The system identification (Sys-Id) concept, defined as the estimation of a system based on the correlation of inputs and outputs, originated in electrical engineering in relation to circuit and control theory. Paralleling the advances in technology over the past several decades, the Sys-Id concept has flourished as numerous engineering disciplines have recognized its value. Today, Sys-Id serves as a fundamental prerequisite for addressing systems problems in mathematics, physics, economics, social sciences, and throughout engineering. Structural identification (St-Id) is a transformation and application of Sys-Id to mechanical (manufactured) and civil (constructed) structural systems. The paradigm was first introduced to engineering mechanics researchers by Hart and Yao and to civil-structural engineering researchers by Liu and Yao. These seminal papers gradually inspired many researchers to investigate various aspects of St-Id, and nearly 30 years later St-Id remains an active research area in both engineering mechanics and civil-structural engineering. During the last 30 years, there has been considerable research on St-Id. There have also been a number of reported applications to constructed systems. However, relative to manufactured systems such as airplanes, cars and space structures, the applications to constructed systems remains in its infancy and has enjoyed only sparse implementation in practice. Several researchers have argued that this is primarily due to a lack of practical sensing and networking technology, however recent advances in these areas have not yet been accompanied by increasing implementations of St-Id. Rather, it is becoming increasingly clear that the lack of implementation and the skepticism towards St-Id expressed by many owners/stewards of constructed systems also stems from an observation that there have not been sufficient demonstrations of an ability to reliably design and implement St-Id to real constructed systems followed by leveraging of the results to influence management decisions. This is compounded by the reality that in many cases irrelevant and unreliable data, especially erroneous identification of a lack of structural reliability as well as deterioration or damage, become a liability for managers. The purpose of this paper and the recent efforts summarized in this paper are for leveraging the promise of St-Id as a foundation for advancing the practice of civil engineering design and construction.