Search

This paper explores the development of a smart Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) platform tailored for long-span bridge monitoring, using the Forth Road Bridge (FRB) as a case study. It discusses the selection of smart sensors available for real-time monitoring, the formulation of an effective data strategy encompassing the collection, processing, management, analysis, and visualization of monitoring data sets to support decision-making, and the establishment of a cost-effective and intelligent sensor network aligned with the objectives set through comprehensive communication with asset owners. Due to the high data rates and dense sensor installations, conventional processing techniques are inadequate for fulfilling monitoring functionalities and ensuring security. Cloud-computing emerges as a widely adopted solution for processing and storing vast monitoring data sets. Drawing from the authors' experience in implementing long-span bridge monitoring systems in the UK and China, this paper compares the advantages and limitations of employing cloud- computing for long-span bridge monitoring. Furthermore, it explores strategies for developing a robust data strategy and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twin (DT) technologies to extract relevant information or patterns regarding asset health conditions. This information is then visualized through the interaction between physical and virtual worlds, facilitating timely and informed decision-making in managing critical road transport infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Main road widening can reduce the clearance of the low-level underpass road, restricting the passage of vehicles and leading to collisions with structures. Therefore, checking the clearance of the underpass road effectively should be considered at the design stage. This paper describes a digital twin approach for checking the clearance of underpass roads in highway widening projects using online map data. The underpass road digital twin and BIM model of the newly widened road based on the existing main road digital twin are created to assist the clearance check and redesign. The proposed method presented a cost-effective clearance check for underpass roads in road widening design without field surveys and was successfully implemented in an underpass road in the UK. In future research, more digital twin methods for overpasses, bridges, tunnels, and traffic safety facilities should be employed comprehensively to assist more road widening applications. • A novel approach is presented to check the underpass road clearance in the road widening project. • A method for building road digital twins from online map data is proposed. • A systematic method for road widening based on the digital twin is proposed. • According to the clearance check, the underpass road can be redesigned to increase the insufficient clearance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital Twins (DTs) are forecasted to be used in two-thirds of large industrial companies in the next decade. In the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector, their actual application is still largely at the prototype stage. Industry and academia are currently reconciling many competing definitions and unclear processes for developing DTs. There is a compelling need to establish DTs as practice in AEC by developing common procedures and standards tailored to the sector's procedures and use cases. This paper proposes a step-by-step workflow process for developing a DT for an existing asset in the built environment, providing a proof-of-concept case study based on the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol (UK). To achieve its aim, this paper (i) reviews the state-of-the-art of DTs in Civil Engineering, (ii) proposes a working DT-based workflow framework for the built environment applicable to existing assets, (iii) applies the framework and develops of the physical-virtual architecture to a case study of bridge management, and finally (iv) discusses insights from the application. The main novelty lies in the development of a versatile methodological framework that can be applied to the broad context of civil infrastructure. This paper's importance resides in the knowledge challenge, value proposition and operation dictated by developing a DT workflow for the built environment, which ultimately represents a relevant use case for the digital transformation of national infrastructure. • This paper reviewed the state-of-the-art of Digital Twins (DTs) in Civil Engineering. • This paper proposes a step-by-step workflow process for DTs. • This paper applied the method for an existing bridge. • This paper presented a preliminary physical-virtual architecture of a bridge DT. • This paper contributes to the knowledge challenge, value proposition and operation dictated by developing a DT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highway asset management requires capturing the highway's status. However, the onsite survey of the highway is very costly and time-consuming. This paper presents a novel approach for creating the digital twin of a highway using map data. The digital twin consists of primary highway components, including horizontal alignment, vertical alignment, cross-section, lanes and central reserves. It follows the engineering representation of a highway, which has excellent potential for further application in the field. The proposed approach was tested in a section of the A1(M) motorway in the UK. It requires minimum human input and has very high accuracy. Despite many outliers in the collected map data, the average vertical deviation per square metre between the surface of the generated digital twin and the actual data was at the centimetre level. • A systematic approach is proposed for making the digital twin of a highway based on map data and engineering expertise. • Spatial data for creating the digital twin can be extracted from low-resolution online map data using the proposed method. • An algorithm is developed to fit the horizontal and vertical alignment of a highway. • Outliers in the spatial data of a highway can be identified and removed using the proposed method. • Cross-sections and the overall digital twin of a highway are generated considering various types of highway components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK is home to several major air commercial and transport hubs. As a result, there is a high demand for Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) services to ensure that fleets of aircraft are in airworthy conditions. MRO services currently involve heavy manual labor. This creates bottlenecks, low repeatability, and low productivity. Presented in this paper is an investigation to create an automation cell for the fan-blade reconditioning component of MRO. The design and prototype of the automation cell is presented. Furthermore, a digital twin of the grinding process is developed and used as a tool to explore the required grinding force parameters needed to effectively remove surface material. An integration of a 6-DoF industrial robot with an end-effector grinder and a computer vision system was undertaken. The computer vision system was used for the digitization of the fan-blade surface as well as tracking and guidance of material removal. Our findings reveal that our proposed system can perform material removal, track the state of the fan blade during the reconditioning process and do so within a closed-loop automated robotic work cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]