Damage assessment in concrete dams: a Kalman Filter approach

The paper focuses on the estimate of stiffness parameters concerned with large dams. Experimental records taken during shaking tests and/or micro-seismic activity are assumed as input data and the Kalman filtering approach is applied in order to determine optimal values of unknown elastic constants. The subject is related to the issue of monitoring, since possible changes of elastic properties can be interpreted as “indicators” of ongoing deterioration processes. The method has been implemented with the aim of estimating pairs of parameters (bulk modules and shear modules). In this way it is possible to consider undesired effects due to isotropic and deviatoric stress components, in accordance to the theoretical framework upon which several damage models are based. Numerical simulations show that the technique discussed in the paper is suitable to detect a decrease of mechanical properties if adequate tests are carried out at regular intervals.