GRNN-based cascade ensemble model for non-destructive damage state identification: small data approach

Assessing the structural integrity of ageing structures that are affected by climate-induced stressors, challenges traditional engineering methods. The reason is that structural degradation often initiates and advances without any notable warning until visible severe damage or catastrophic failures occur. An example of this, is the conventional inspection methods for prestressed concrete bridges which fail to interpret large permanent deflections because the causes—typically tendon loss— are barely visible or measurable. In many occasions, traditional inspections fail to discern these latent defects and damage, leading to the need for expensive continuous structural health monitoring towards informed assessments to enable appropriate structural interventions. This is a capability gap that has led to fatalities and extensive losses because the operators have very little time to react. This study addresses this gap by proposing a novel machine learning approach to inform a rapid nondestructive assessment of bridge damage states based on measurable structural deflections. First, a comprehensive training dataset is assembled by simulating various plausible bridge damage scenarios associated with different degrees and patterns of tendon losses, the integrity of which is vital for the health of bridge decks. Second, a novel General Regression Neural Network (GRNN)-based cascade ensemble model, tailored for predicting three interdependent output attributes using limited datasets, is developed. The proposed cascade model is optimised by utilising the differential evolution method. Modelling and validation were conducted for a real long-span bridge. The results confirm the efficacy of the proposed model in accurately identifying bridge damage states when compared to existing methods. The model developed demonstrates exceptional prediction accuracy and reliability, underscoring its practical value in non-destructive bridge damage assessment, which can facilitate effective restoration planning.