Detection of Cracks in Cultural Heritage Buildings Using UAV Photogrammetry-based Digital Twin

Abstract

Notwithstanding the increasing efforts to conserve and archive historical artefacts, comprehensive documentation employing various technologies remains crucial. Comprehensive documentation will facilitate relaying information about these locations to future generations, ensuring their complete conservation by inspecting their present state. Furthermore, in addition to digital documentation for the conservation of historic buildings, creating an audit that will contribute to future evaluations and interventions is of the utmost importance. As a result, an alternative method is suggested for automatic detection of structural cracks instead of costly on-site inspections. Growing interest has been in developing digital twins (DT) for accurate detection. Three-dimensional (3D) geometric documentation represents the initial phase in DT development, and diverse instruments and procedures have been designed to support this process. Accurate 3D geometric documentation is achieved by integrating photogrammetry and geodetic methods. The proposed methodology underwent testing on a modern beam structure before being applied to a complex historical structure. The study compared the findings of modern measurement techniques with traditional methods for analyzing automatically detected cracks. The accuracy of modern techniques resulted in a success rate of 78.25%.