The conventional safety evaluation of structures requires input data concerning the current properties of the structure and concerning the mechanical boundary conditions. If this precondition can not be met, experimental safety evaluation including test loading has proved to be a…
The conventional safety evaluation of structures requires input data concerning the current properties of the structure and concerning the mechanical boundary conditions. If this precondition can not be met, experimental safety evaluation including test loading has proved to be a useful and in some cases the only alternative. In numerous cases a combined application of experimental and numerical methods is required. By numerically simulating the fracture process of the investigated structure, decision support for the planning of the actual loading is provided and after the test the experimental results may be extrapolated in order to predict failure mode and ultimate load level. For obtaining realistic numerical results, crack propagation is taken into account by using approaches of non-linear fracture mechanics. The concept of experimental safety evaluation is described and examples for bridge testing are presented.