As pontes de concreto armado são obras de arte de extrema importância para a infraestrutura de transportes do Brasil. Portanto sua inspeção e manutenção são atividades estratégicas. A inspeção visual, ensaios destrutivos e não destrutivos fornecem informações sobre a sua integridade estrutural e auxiliam na tomada de decisões relativas à necessidade de reparos e reforços. Entre os ensaios não destrutivos, avalia-se neste trabalho a aplicação da identificação modal estocástica na detecção de danos em pontes. A técnica baseia-se na medição das vibrações ambientais da estrutura, aquelas que ocorrem durante seu uso, identificação de suas propriedades modais, comparação com as propriedades modais da estrutura íntegra e consequente detecção de danos. Diferentemente da análise dinâmica experimental clássica, na identificação modal estocástica as ações dinâmicas não são medidas e nem controladas durante o ensaio. Por este motivo foram adotadas técnicas de identificação modal baseadas apenas nas vibrações medidas em alguns pontos da estrutura, funções de densidade espectral de potência e transmissibilidades de vibrações entre os pontos. Desta forma as frequências naturais e modos de vibração experimentais puderam ser precisamente identificados em modelos íntegros e danificados de pontes em escala reduzida. Em cada modelo, uma danificação foi imposta em uma de suas longarinas no meio do vão ou no segundo quarto de vão. Após a realização dos ensaios dinâmicos nas condições íntegra e danificada, duas técnicas de identificação de danos foram utilizadas: Diferença de Curvatura Modal (DCM) e Índice de Dano (ID). Ambas as técnicas tiveram sucesso na detecção de danos nos modelos de pontes avaliados. / Reinforced concrete bridges are extremely important elements of Brazilian transportation infrastructure. Consequently their inspection and maintenance are strategic activities. Visual inspection, destructive or nondestructive tests offer relevant information on their structural integrity and support the decision on the need of retrofitting or strengthening. Among existing types of nondestructive tests, this work focuses on the application of stochastic modal identification in damage detection of bridges. This technique is based on the measurement of environmental vibrations that occur during normal operation of the structure, modal identification, comparison of modal properties between damaged and undamaged bridge and finally damage detection. Opposed to classical dynamic experimental analysis, in stochastic modal identification the loads are not measured or known during the test. For this reason modal identification was only based in vibrations measured in selected points of the structure, power spectral density functions and vibration transmissibilities between these points. With this method natural frequencies and experimental modal shapes could be precisely identified in damaged and undamaged small scale models of bridges. The damage was induced in the middle of the span or in the second quarter of the span in one of the girders. After dynamic testing in undamaged and damaged conditions two damage identification techniques were used: Modal Curvature Difference (MCD) and Damage Index (ID). Both techniques detected successfully the damages imposed to the bridge models.

This doctoral thesis deals with the valuation of damage to buildings affected by floods. In its individual parts, it researches floods as a risk, focuses on the damage caused by this natural phenomenon and examines the methods used to assess the damages caused by floods. With the beginnings of human settlement, the vicinity of rivers has been inhabited for the many befits that watercourses bring. However, there are many dangers associated with this, especially the ones associated with the spillage of riverbeds – with floods. This phenomenon causes considerable damage to property, the environment or human health and lives. There are many measures to eliminate the risk of flooding, or at least mitigate its effects. This work further researches the mitigating of impacts – it examines the methods of determining the amount of damage to buildings caused by floods, looks for factors and parameters influencing the amount of damage and focuses on streamlining these methods. The aim of the thesis is to find a suitable methodology/model that can automate the calculation of the amount of damage, or in other words, to find a quick and at the same time sufficiently accurate solution to this problem. The main output of the thesis is the equation of the damage curve and a model for the amount of damage calculation based on the principle of damage curves using the hybrid genetic algorithm. Another output is a practical tool that works on the basis of the said algorithm and automatically calculates the amount of damage to the building when entering very basic information about the damaged object.