Classification of bridge damages and costs for optimal maintenance planing based on markov decision process

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Mühendislik Fakültesi, Mühendislik Bilimleri Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2016

Öğrenci: REZA ASLZAD

Danışman: FERHAT AKGÜL

Özet:

Serviceability of a bridge is gradually reduced over time due to loads they carry andthe environmental effects. The effect of deterioration on bridges begin to appear when the bridges start aging and the materials are subjected to constant wear. Traffic loadings, weather and environmental factors, quality of construction, natural disasters, such as earthquakes and floods, are important factors that affect the degree and rate of deterioration of a bridge. Therefore, appropriate management is needed for bridges during their lifetime to maintain their performance. In order to devise effective maintenance and repair plans, a vast knowledge on bridge damages and components is crucial. In this study, bridge elements and related damages that generally occur are introduced and their causes are explained. Two separate unit maintenance and repair cost estimation techniques and procedures used are explained and compared with each other. Maintenance and repair costs of bridges should be optimized because of budget constraints if a bridge network or stock is to be maintained. Development of maintenance and repair models are also introduced. In this study, for stochastic modeling of bridge deterioration, Markov Decision Process (MDP) method is adopted. Transition probability matrices are generated for bridge elements and maintenance and repair costs are estimated. In addition, a computer algorithm is developed in order to verify the results of a separate optimization program. The newly developed computer algorithm is used to find the optimal maintenance and repair cost for a bridge element and the results are compared with the Markov chain-based optimization program.