With the rapid development of the world’s transportation infrastructure, many long-span bridges were constructed in recent years, especially in China. However, these bridges are easily subjected to various damages due to dynamic loads (such as wind-, earthquake-, and vehicle-induced vibration) or environmental factors (such as corrosion). Therefore, structural health monitoring (SHM) is vital to guarantee the safety of bridges in their service lives. With its wide frequency response range, fast response, simple preparation process, ease of processing, low cost, and other advantages, the piezoelectric transducer is commonly employed for the SHM of bridges. This paper summarizes the application of piezoelectric materials for the SHM of bridges, including the monitoring of the concrete strength, bolt looseness, steel corrosion, and grouting density. For each problem, the application of piezoelectric materials in different research methods is described. The related data processing methods for four types of bridge detection are briefly summarized, and the principles of each method in practical application are listed. Finally, issues to be studied when using piezoelectric materials for monitoring are discussed, and future application prospects and development directions are presented.

Concrete is a heterogeneous composite consisting of aggregate, cement paste, and void. Steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) has been widely studied experimentally and numerically in recent decades. The fibre geometry model program generated by a secondary development ANSYS program was exported to midas FEA for analysis. The constitutive concrete model adopts the total strain crack model of concrete. A steel fibre bond slip is considered in an equivalent manner using the von Mises model. The results of the three‐dimensional meso‐scale numerical analysis method agree well with the experimental values of steel fibre concrete beams.

The shear performance of concrete beams is known to be an important mechanical feature; hence, enhanced shear resistance is critical for determining a beam’s performance in terms of security and service life. This paper presents a study on the shear behavior of concrete beams without web reinforcement strengthened by external vertical prestressing rebars (EVPRs). Experimental data were obtained from seven test beams with varying influencing factors (stirrup ratio ρ_sEP, arrangement spacing s, prestressing force F_p, and compressive stress degree γ_p of the EVPRs) to determine their effects on the shear behavior. The results reveal that the EVPRs can significantly improve the shear capacity and ductility of concrete beams without web reinforcement. Furthermore, the failure mode is changed from brittle diagonal tension to relatively ductile shear compression, and the flexural cracks and shear cracks are more fully developed. The shear capacity becomes enhanced as the ρ_sEP and γ_p are increased; vertical compressive stress provided by the EVPRs can reduce the principal tensile stress of the concrete structure to prevent the shear cracking and enhance the shear resistance of the concrete. Meanwhile, in the stage from the formation of the critical shear crack (CSC) to the shear failure, the EVPRs can be used as stirrups to share the shear load. It can be concluded that EVPRs can effectively improve the shear performance of concrete beams.

The ultimate load capacities of steel fiber–reinforced concrete beams were determined by experiments conducted on steel fiber–reinforced concrete beams under the action of a two-point symmetrical concentrated load. Accordingly, failure modes and experimental data were obtained for 19 sets of test beams with varying concrete strength, longitudinal reinforcing bars, shear span ratio, and steel fiber volume content to determine their effects on steel fiber–reinforced concrete beam behavior. An optimization model reflecting the contributions of all tested factors to the shear capacity of a steel fiber–reinforced concrete beam is then derived and its accuracy is demonstrated by a comparison against the test results.

A three-dimensional (3D) microstructure-based discrete element (DE) model was developed to study the creep behaviour of high viscoelastic asphalt sand (HVAS) with the uniaxial compression creep tests. The three-point bending creep tests of asphalt mortar were carried out in order to obtain the parameters of the Burger model, to determine the transformation method of macroscopic parameters and microscopic parameters of the model in theory, to obtain the parameters used in the discrete element model, and then establish the discrete element analysis model for the asphalt mixture. A 3D-DE digital specimen was composed of coarse aggregates, asphalt mortar and air voids, which could also take gradation, irregular shape, random distribution of aggregate and air voids into consideration, and the boundary conditions of the model were set through the simulation of the uniaxial compression creep tests. An accurate and extensive mapping model of HVAS was built by 3D-PFC (Particle Flow Code), which can provide a simple alternative to the laboratory tests. This method can simulate a series of numerical examples based on different stress levels, coarse aggregate homogenizations, mortar homogenizations and temperatures in a single factor method. Comparison of results of laboratory and numerical tests shows that the 3D-PFC-viscoelastic model can reflect the creep mechanical behaviour of asphalt mixture accurately. It provides the theoretical basis and auxiliary means for analysing the mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures using PFC software. The research on creep behaviour of the asphalt mixture by numerical simulation opens up a new way for the research on creep behaviour of the asphalt mixture, it is of considerable theoretical value and has broad application prospects.

Underwater structures are crucial for national economic and social development. However, because of their complex environment, they are susceptible to damage during service. This damage should be prevented to minimize casualties and economic loss. Therefore, this study investigates the problems of disease identification and area statistics of underwater structures. To this end, the Dark‐Retinex (DR) algorithm that can enhance the image of underwater structure defects is proposed. The algorithm consists of a combination of a dark channel algorithm and the Retinex algorithm. This study analyzes the current research status of underwater image processing technology, designs the overall framework of the DR algorithm, and uses the underwater structure disease image to verify the algorithm. Comparing the effect of the image with only the dark channel defogging and DR algorithm processing, the DR algorithm is observed to achieve “defogging” processing of underwater structural disease images to achieve better enhancement effects. Moreover, for accurate disease area statistics, the binary morphology and optimal threshold segmentation theories are combined to perform disease edge screening and remove interference information. Finally, accurate statistics of the proportion of diseased pixels are achieved, as well as the quantitative detection of surface diseases of underwater structures. After actual operational verification, the improved image dehazing and parallel boundary screening algorithms can achieve better application results to detect underwater structure defects and disease statistics. The objective evaluation shows that the DR algorithm facilitates image processing, can obtain relatively high‐quality target images, and can solve the problems of time‐consuming and labor‐intensive detection of underwater structures, with significant risks and limitations. This helps pave the way for (1) the actual engineering of surface structure detection of underwater structures, (2) future storage in the database and assessment of hazard levels, and (3) a guide for engineering technicians to take corresponding maintenance measures.