Development of VR-based inspection support system for crack and spalling detection in deteriorating bridges

In this study, a novel VR-based system for inspection of deteriorating concrete bridges is proposed to support of the crack and spalling detection which is a key role in existing bridge maintenance. The proposed system, called a VR-based support system for bridge inspection, was applied to an aged bridge for confirming the representing ability of both cracking and spalling damages as a specific example. Experimental results showed that the VR images data with hammering sounds (audio) data have a sufficient ability of representing both crack width over 0.2 mm and a certain spalling area near concrete surface. In this system, the three-dimensional image(photo) data was used to recognize the cracking damage for professional visual inspector. On the other hand, as spalling damage inside the concrete surface couldn’t be identified accurately from only image(photo) data, then the hammering sounds (audio) data was incorporated into the system as an additional function for recoginittion of the spalling damage.