Description of Z24 benchmark

Vibration monitoring is a useful evaluation tool in the development of a non-destructive damage-identification technique, and relies on the fact that occurrence of damage in a structural system leads to changes in its dynamic properties. It can give global information of a structure, and the location of the damage has not to be known in advance. Damage-assessment techniques are validated on the progressively damaged prestressed concrete bridge Z24 in Switzerland, tested in the framework of the Brite Euram. project SIMCES. A series of full modal surveys are carried out on the bridge before and after applying a number of damage scenarios. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.