PCA-based filtering of temperature effect on impedance monitoring in prestressed tendon anchorage

For the long-term structural health monitoring of civil structures, the effect of ambient temperature variation has been regarded as one of the critical issues. In this study, a principal component analysis (PCA)-based algorithm is proposed to filter out temperature effects on electromechanical impedance (EMI) monitoring of prestressed tendon anchorages. Firstly, the EMI monitoring via a piezoelectric interface device is described for prestress-loss detection in the tendon anchorage system. Secondly, the PCA-based temperature filtering algorithm tailored to the EMI monitoring of the prestressed tendon anchorage is outlined. The proposed algorithm utilizes the damage-sensitive features obtained from sub-ranges of the EMI data to establish the PCA-based filter model. Finally, the feasibility of the PCA-based algorithm is experimentally evaluated by distinguishing temperature changes from prestress-loss events in a prestressed concrete girder. The accuracy of the prestress-loss detection results is discussed with respect to the EMI features before and after the temperature filtering.