Preliminary framework for reporting damage in reinforced concrete structures to enhance data archival and reuse

2013 Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. All rights reserved. Among the many innovations in experimental structural engineering research is the emergence of the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) Project Warehouse for the archival of experimental data. Although the standards of data preservation ensure the longevity of most experimental data, the current approach to data archival lacks a formalized method of reporting and storing damage information. Unlike measured data such as strains, damage data is not typically preserved in a quantitative manner that would ensure consistency between projects and improve usability for subsequent reuse of the data. Damage information can be extracted from photographs and testing notes in the project warehouse, but this approach is a time consuming task and thus limits the ability for use of the data in the development of performance-based design tools such as fragility functions. This paper presents a preliminary framework for standardized documentation of experimental damage data. The framework will enable a consistent, quantitative, and accessible method for conveying damage information, thereby preserving the data in a way that will enable and encourage reuse of data in transformative ways.

Preliminary framework for reporting damage in reinforced concrete structures to enhance data archival and reuse Conference Paper