Structural Testing Applications

Abstract

This chapter addresses various aspects of testing of a structural system. The importance of the structural system management approach to planning and performing structural tests (ST) is structural test (ST) emphasized. When resources are limited, this approach becomes critical to the successful implementation of a testing program. The chapter starts with illustrations of some of the past structures that were built using concepts developed through testing. Most often, these structures were built even before the principles of engineering mechanics were understood. At present, due to the unprecedented expansion of computing power, numerical and experimental techniques are interchangeably used in simulating complex natural phenomena. Despite encouraging results from simulation and simulation modeling predictive modeling, structural testing is still a very valuable tool in the industrial development of product and process, and its success depends on judicious choice of testing method, instrumentation, data acquisition, and allocation of resources. A generic description of the current test equipment and types of measurements is included in this chapter. After careful selection, three case studies are included. The complexity involved with the modeling of structural steel retrieved from the collapse site of the World Trade Center (WTC) under high-rate and high-temperature conditions is World Trade Center (WTC) highlighted in the first case study. The second case study highlights the importance of the planning phase in providing the basis for manageable and high-quality testing of concrete highway bridges. The final case study details the development of a lightweight automobile airbag from inception through innovation. This case study also illustrates the close ties between structural testing and numerical simulation. The chapter closes with examples of a few future structural systems, highlighting the complexity involved in their testing.