A decision support system for diagnosis of distress cause and repair in marine concrete structures

Marine Structures are very costly and need a continuous inspection and maintenance routine. The most effective way to control the structural health is the application of an expert system that can evaluate the importance of any distress on the structure and provide a maintenance program. An extensive literature review, interviews with expert supervisors and a national survey are used to build a decision support system for concrete structures in sea environment. Decision trees are the main rules in this system. The system input is inspection information and the system output is the main cause(s) of distress(es) and the best repair method(s). Economic condition, severity of distress, distress situation, and new technologies and the most repeated classical methods are considered to choose the best repair method. A case study demonstrates the application of the developed decision support system for a type of marine structure.