Physics-based metamodeling for health monitoring and damage diagnosis of waterway infrastructure

Civil water structures such as navigation locks are exposed to various deterioration mechanisms throughout their service life. In Germany, large parts of the federal waterway infrastructure consist of ageing massive structures. Their operation often cannot simply be suspended, since a closure of a single lock would lead to the closure of entire waterways. To ensure safety and functionality under these constraints, regular inspections and maintenance are essential. Nevertheless, due to the advanced age and sometimes critical condition of many structures, damages may be inevitable. If continued operation is required after damages are detected, permanent monitoring systems become increasingly important to guarantee the safety of shipping traffic. Moreover, even in the absence of visible damage, situations may arise where it is uncertain whether the structure still provides sufficient load-bearing capacity. In this context, structural health monitoring (SHM) systems have emerged as a promising solution for real-time monitoring and damage diagnosis of waterway infrastructure. By integrating sensors and data acquisition systems, SHM enables continuous observation of structural behavior, allowing for early detection of deterioration and anomalies. To interpret the acquired data with regard to potential damages, physics-based models are typically required. However, for real-time diagnosis these models are generally too computationally expensive. Therefore, metamodeling tools can be employed to significantly reduce computation time while maintaining sufficient accuracy. In this work, we present the application of physics-based models and metamodeling for the continuous health monitoring of the lock in Leerstetten, Germany.