DEVELOPMENT OF A SIMULATOR FOR CLOSE VISUAL INSPECTION TRAINING ON FATIGUE DAMAGE OF STEEL BRIDGES

Abstract

 With the revision of the Regulation for Enforcement of the Road Act (issued in March 31, 2014, and enforced in July 1, 2014), regular road bridge inspections require a qualified person with the knowledge and skills to carry out close visual inspections once every five years. This led to a pressing social need for a more effective way to educate inspection engineers. Classroom lectures based on current textbooks can be carried out relatively easily to educate inspection engineers, but understanding the actual structure of a bridge in its entirety is difficult. Furthermore, although the actual structure can be observed while conducting practice fieldwork on-site, a lot of effort are required to prepare and ensure safety at the site, and the number of students who can participate in fieldwork is limited. To supplement the advantages and disadvantages of classroom lectures and on-site practice, we developed a simulator that makes it possible to effectively learn about the areas where fatigue failures occur and their causes in a virtual space.