HIL excitation in the damage assessment of a timber footbridge

During experimental tests in situ, footbridge identification is usually pursued by exploiting the response to environmental actions. The aim of this manuscript is to replace the environment excitation with "Human Induced Loading" (HIL), when carrying out the periodical assessment of timber footbridges. Due to the stochastic component of the model, the tests should be repeated several times along the experimental campaign. The statistical analysis of the collected structural responses will then allow one to detect discrepancies, if any, from the expected spectral response. The proposal runs with the support of data collected on an existing timber footbridge located in North-Eastern Italy.