Bridge management today requires tools that can support reliable assessments over time, reducing uncertainty in the evaluation of structural conditions and effectively guiding maintenance and management strategies. In this context, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) provides crucial support for understanding the behaviour of structures throughout their service life. However, solutions based solely on in-situ sensors, although offering high accuracy and high temporal resolution, are often costly, require dedicated installation and calibration, and rarely ensure extensive and continuous coverage of the entire infrastructure. To overcome these limitations, satellite observation offers a highly valuable complementary contribution. In particular, satellite radar interferometry techniques (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar, InSAR) make it possible to estimate millimetre-scale displacements along the sensor line of sight over wide areas and multi-year time spans, making them especially suitable for the surveillance of strategic infrastructures and for identifying long-term deformation trends. The use of satellite datasets also enables the analysis of structural behaviour in relation to the main environmental drivers, such as thermal and hydrological variations. In light of the above, this thesis applies these methodologies to a real-world case study involving a major road bridge located in Northern Italy. The aim is to analyse the displacements derived from InSAR data, assess their temporal evolution and their relationship with the main environmental factors, and compare them with the predictions of a finite element numerical model. Moreover, the numerical model is calibrated at the nodal level by using the natural frequencies measured by accelerometers installed on site, enabling an integrated comparison between satellite observations, experimental measurements, and numerical simulations.
La gestione dei ponti esistenti richiede oggi strumenti in grado di supportare valutazioni affidabili nel tempo, riducendo l’incertezza nella stima delle condizioni strutturali e orientando in modo efficace le strategie di manutenzione e gestione. In questo contesto, il monitoraggio della salute strutturale (Structural Health Monitoring, SHM) rappresenta un supporto decisivo per la comprensione del comportamento delle opere nel loro ciclo di vita. Tuttavia, le soluzioni basate esclusivamente su sensori installati in sito, sebbene garantiscano un’elevata accuratezza e un’elevata risoluzione temporale, risultano spesso onerose in termini di costi, richiedono installazioni e calibrazioni dedicate e difficilmente assicurano una copertura estesa e continuativa sull’intera infrastruttura. Per superare tali limiti, l’osservazione satellitare fornisce un contributo complementare di grande interesse. In particolare, le tecniche di interferometria radar satellitare (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar, InSAR) consentono di stimare spostamenti millimetrici lungo la linea di vista del sensore su ampie aree e su archi temporali pluriennali, rendendole particolarmente adatte alla sorveglianza di infrastrutture strategiche e all’individuazione di tendenze deformative a lungo termine. L’utilizzo di dataset satellitari permette inoltre di analizzare il comportamento strutturale in relazione ai principali fattori ambientali, come le variazioni termiche e idrologiche. Alla luce di quanto esposto, la presente tesi applica tali metodologie a un caso studio reale, relativo ad un viadotto stradale situato in Italia settentrionale. L’obiettivo è analizzare gli spostamenti ricavati dai dati InSAR, valutarne l’andamento nel tempo e in relazione ai principali fattori ambientali, e confrontarli con le previsioni di un modello numerico agli elementi finiti. Inoltre, il modello numerico è calibrato rispetto ai parametri nodali, utilizzando le frequenze proprie misurate da accelerometri installati in sito, consentendo un confronto integrato tra osservazioni satellitari, misure sperimentali e simulazioni numeriche.
Tecniche InSAR per il monitoraggio strutturale: applicazione su caso reale
Brasca, Andrea;Celli, Gaia
2025/2026
Abstract
Bridge management today requires tools that can support reliable assessments over time, reducing uncertainty in the evaluation of structural conditions and effectively guiding maintenance and management strategies. In this context, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) provides crucial support for understanding the behaviour of structures throughout their service life. However, solutions based solely on in-situ sensors, although offering high accuracy and high temporal resolution, are often costly, require dedicated installation and calibration, and rarely ensure extensive and continuous coverage of the entire infrastructure. To overcome these limitations, satellite observation offers a highly valuable complementary contribution. In particular, satellite radar interferometry techniques (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar, InSAR) make it possible to estimate millimetre-scale displacements along the sensor line of sight over wide areas and multi-year time spans, making them especially suitable for the surveillance of strategic infrastructures and for identifying long-term deformation trends. The use of satellite datasets also enables the analysis of structural behaviour in relation to the main environmental drivers, such as thermal and hydrological variations. In light of the above, this thesis applies these methodologies to a real-world case study involving a major road bridge located in Northern Italy. The aim is to analyse the displacements derived from InSAR data, assess their temporal evolution and their relationship with the main environmental factors, and compare them with the predictions of a finite element numerical model. Moreover, the numerical model is calibrated at the nodal level by using the natural frequencies measured by accelerometers installed on site, enabling an integrated comparison between satellite observations, experimental measurements, and numerical simulations.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/252090