Title: Uncertainty assessment in the results of inverse problems: applied to damage detection in masonry dams

Authors: Long Nguyen-Tuan; Carsten Koenke; Volker Bettzieche; Tom Lahmer

Addresses: Institute of Structural Mechanics, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Marienstrasse 15 99423 Weimar, Germany ' Institute of Structural Mechanics, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Marienstrasse 15 99423 Weimar, Germany ' Department of Dam Maintenance and Geotechnics, Ruhrverband, Kronprinzenstraße 37 45128 Essen, Germany ' Institute of Structural Mechanics, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Marienstrasse 15 99423 Weimar, Germany

Abstract: In this work, we study the uncertainties in the results of inverse problems. The inverse problems solve damage identification problems in multifield-multiphase problems for fluid-flow problems in deforming porous materials under non-isothermal boundary conditions. These analyses are important within the structural health monitoring of masonry dams. Results of the inverse problems show a scatter due to different sources of uncertainties in model parameters, measurement data, field of measurements, and in the solving algorithms of the inverse problem. In order to see and analyse the scatter, the inverse problem is solved repeatedly by a sampling process. The uncertainty in the inverse solutions can be quantified by their probability distributions according to the sampling results.

Keywords: damage identification; masonry dams; optimisation; uncertainty quantification; random field.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRS.2018.092498

International Journal of Reliability and Safety, 2018 Vol.12 No.1/2, pp.2 - 23

Received: 04 Feb 2017
Accepted: 17 Aug 2017
Published online: 23 Jun 2018 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article