Image-based structural damage assessment with sensor fusion

This paper presents a new approach to improve the accuracy and time needed to assess the structural damage based on imaging and sensor fusion technologies. The major structural properties (i.e., global properties, temperature, and deformation) are employed, which can be obtained through different kinds of sensors. Enhancements of visual images including thermal imaging and historical data are important methods to determinate both visible and invisible structural stability. Crack detection is given to further enhance the assessment. The latest GPGPU (General-Purpose Graphics Processing Unit) technology to help improve computation performance is introduced in briefly. An expert system is created to assist final sensor fusion and analysis for structural stability determination.