Overview of Damage Assessment of Structures

Different available analytical and experimental metho-dologies of local and global damage index (LDI and GDI) determination for bridges and buildings along with their mathematical expression are reviewed in this article. In the literature, impact of seismic loading and material deterioration due to ageing effects is the main focus to study the performance. Case studies for assessment of bridges and buildings are appended here to understand variation of damage index (DI) for various levels of seismicity. The utility of the proposed methods has been discussed in this case study. This article also includes progressive development, limita-tions and directions of future research on damage assessment of structures. Based on the extensive liter-ature review, the authors have critically analysed the pros and cons of the available methods. However, time-dependent damage assessment, damage estima-tion for various structural and non-structural compo-nents using different materials, variation of damage for different configurations of structures, and deterio-ration of roads and bridges are the probable future scope for research. In future, damage-based design considering multiple response parameters along with uncertain load characteristics such as seismic load, wind load, blast load, floods and accidental load could be considered to select allowable damage of structures that would help to understand and ensure the time-dependent safety, progressive phases of collapse and serviceability with high reliability satisfying smart structural requirements.