Ontology-based modeling of crack width evolution in concrete components

Procedia Structural Integrity, vol. 85, pp. 913–920

Abstract

Ontologies are increasingly used to organize engineering information into meaningful concepts and relationships, enabling consistent interpretation and sharing of knowledge. In this work, a lightweight ontology is developed to model the temporal crack evolution, which is one of the key indicators for assessing the condition and durability of concrete structures. As the behavior of crack width can vary over time, the representation of temporal crack information is important for supporting structural performance assessment. The ontology formalizes crack states across multiple observation points into a machine-interpretable knowledge model and links each observation to its supporting resources, such as sensor data files and crack images. By connecting semantic descriptions with raw monitoring evidence, the approach improves traceability and retrieval of crack-related information, supports transparent interpretation of crack development processes, and facilitates comprehensive digital management of crack records. The ontology-based framework is expected to serve as a semantic structure for interpreting monitoring data and enabling future semantic extensions. Although this work is at an early stage, it highlights the potential of semantic technologies to enhance structural health monitoring (SHM) data utilization and contribute to more resilient infrastructure knowledge management.

Authors 4

1. Xiaoli Song corresponding

   Technische Universität Dresden

   Affiliation as printed

   TUD Dresden University of Technology, George-Bähr-Straße 1, 01069 Dresden, Germany

2. Mengyan Peng

   Technische Universität Dresden

   Affiliation as printed

   TUD Dresden University of Technology, George-Bähr-Straße 1, 01069 Dresden, Germany

3. Steffen Marx Aachen Cluster of Excellence CARE

   Climate-Neutral and Resource-Efficient Construction · Technische Universität Dresden · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Cluster of Excellence CARE, TU Dresden and RWTH Aachen, Germany

   TUD Dresden University of Technology, George-Bähr-Straße 1, 01069 Dresden, Germany

4. Chongjie Kang Aachen Cluster of Excellence CARE

   Climate-Neutral and Resource-Efficient Construction · Technische Universität Dresden · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Cluster of Excellence CARE, TU Dresden and RWTH Aachen, Germany

   TUD Dresden University of Technology, George-Bähr-Straße 1, 01069 Dresden, Germany