Design of Wireless Sensor Nodes for Structural Health Monitoring applications

Enabling low-cost distributed monitoring, wireless sensor networks represents an interesting solution for the implementation of structural health monitoring systems. This work deals with the design of wireless sensor networks for health monitoring of civil structures, specifically focusing on node design in relation to the requirements of different structural monitoring application classes. Design problems are analysed with specific reference to a large-scale experimental setup (the long-term structural monitoring of the Basilica S. Maria di Collemaggio, L’Aquila, Italy). Main limitations emerged are highlighted, and adopted solution strategies are outlined, both in the case of commercial sensing platform and of full custom solutions

Optical fibre sensors - applications and potential

Fibre optic sensors have progressed considerably during the past few years and are now establishing their potential as very real contenders in the environmental, structural monitoring and industrial sensing areas. This paper will explore some examples of these emerging applications and analyse the benefits which optical fibre technology offers within these measurement sectors. We shall then continue to explore emerging prospects which offer new opportunities for future research and exploitation

Advanced Ultrasonic Structural Monitoring of Waveguides

Ultrasonic Guided Waves (UGWs) are a useful tool in those structural health monitoring applications that can benefit from built-in transduction, moderately large inspection ranges and high sensitivity to small flaws. This paper describes two methods, based on linear and nonlinear acoustics for structural damage detection based on UGWs. The linear method combine the advantages of UGW inspection with the outcomes of the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) that is used for extracting defect-sensitive features that can be combined to perform a multivariate diagnosis of damage. In particular, the DWT is exploited to generate a set of relevant wavelet coefficients to construct a uni-dimensional or multi-dimensional damage index that, in turn is fed to an outlier algorithm to detect anomalous structural states. The nonlinear acoustics method exploits the circumstance that a cracked medium exhibits high acoustic nonlinearity which is manifested as harmonics in the power spectrum of the received signal. Experimental results also indicate that the harmonic components increase non-linearly in magnitude with increasing amplitude of the input signal. The proposed nonlinear technique identifies the presence of cracks by looking at the harmonics and their nonlinear relationship to the input amplitude. The general framework presented in this paper is applied to the detection of fatigue cracks in an I-shaped steel beam. The probing hardware consists of Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) materials used for both ultrasound generation and detection at chosen frequency. The effectiveness of the proposed methods for the structural diagnosis of defects that are small compared to the waveguide cross-sectional area is discussed

Design and Testing of a Structural Monitoring System in an Almería-Type Tensioned Structure Greenhouse

Greenhouse cultivation has gained a special importance in recent years and become the basis of the economy in south-eastern Spain. The structures used are light and, due to weather events, often collapse completely or partially, which has generated interest in the study of these unique buildings. This study presents a load and displacement monitoring system that was designed, and full scale tested, in an Almería-type greenhouse with a tensioned wire structure. The loads and displacements measured under real load conditions were recorded for multiple time periods. The traction force on the roof cables decreased up to 22% for a temperature increase of 30 °C, and the compression force decreased up to 16.1% on the columns or pillars for a temperature and wind speed increase of 25.8 °C and 1.9 m/s respectively. The results show that the structure is susceptible to daily temperature changes and, to a lesser extent, wind throughout the test. The monitoring system, which uses load cells to measure loads and machine vision techniques to measure displacements, is appropriate for use in different types of greenhouses

Структурний моніторинг вертикальних сталевих резервуарів

У монографії наведено результати досліджень та розробки комплексної системи для структурного моніторингу вертикальних сталевих резервуарів з екологічно-небезпечними речовинами. Наведено результати моделювання резервуару як об'єкта в умовах експлуатаційних навантажень та при появі і розвитку пошкоджень, структурно-функціонального синтезу системи моніторингу, програмної реалізації блоків і підсистем, лабораторних випробувань макетного зразку системи. Книга призначена для фахівців у галузі моніторингу та діагностики складних просторових об'єктів, наукових працівників, докторантів, аспірантів та студентів старших курсів вищих навчальних закладів

GENESI: Wireless sensor networks for structural monitoring

The GENESI project has the ambitious goal of bringing WSN technology to the level where it can provide the core of the next generation of systems for structural health monitoring that are long lasting, pervasive and totally distributed and autonomous. This goal requires embracing engineering and scientific challenges never successfully tackled before. Sensor nodes will be redesigned to overcome their current limitations, especially concerning energy storage and provisioning (we need devices with virtually infinite lifetime) and resilience to faults and interferences (for reliability and robustness). New software and protocols will be defined to fully take advantage of the new hardware, providing new paradigms for cross-layer interaction at all layers of the protocol stack and satisfying the requirements of a new concept of Quality of Service (QoS) that is application-driven, truly reflecting the end user perspective and expectations. The GENESI project will develop long lasting sensor nodes by combining cutting edge technologies for energy generation from the environment (energy harvesting) and green energy supply (small form factor fuel cells); GENESI will define models for energy harvesting, energy conservation in super-capacitors and supplemental energy availability through fuel cells, in addition to the design of new algorithms and protocols for dynamic allocation of sensing and communication tasks to the sensors. The project team will design communication protocols for large scale heterogeneous wireless sensor/actuator networks with energy-harvesting capabilities and define distributed mechanisms for context assessment and situation awareness. This paper presents an analysis of the GENESI system requirements in order to achieve the ambitious goals of the project. Extending from the requirements presented, the emergent system specification is discussed with respect to the selection and integration of relevant system components.The resulting integrated system will be evaluated and characterised to ensure that it is capable of satisfying the functional requirements of the projec

Wireless Applications for Structural Monitoring of Inflatable Habitats

A viewgraph presentation on wireless applications for structural health monitoring of inflatable space structures is shown. The topics include: 1) Background; 2) REquirements; 3) Implementation; and 4) strucutral health monitoring system summary

An artificial intelligence-based structural health monitoring system for aging aircraft

To reduce operating expenses, airlines are now using the existing fleets of commercial aircraft well beyond their originally anticipated service lives. The repair and maintenance of these 'aging aircraft' has therefore become a critical safety issue, both to the airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration. This paper presents the results of an innovative research program to develop a structural monitoring system that will be used to evaluate the integrity of in-service aerospace structural components. Currently in the final phase of its development, this monitoring system will indicate when repair or maintenance of a damaged structural component is necessary

Evaluation of High-Precision Sensors in Structural Monitoring

One of the most intricate branches of metrology involves the monitoring of displacements and deformations of natural and anthropogenic structures under environmental forces, such as tidal or tectonic phenomena, or ground water level changes. Technological progress has changed the measurement process, and steadily increasing accuracy requirements have led to the continued development of new measuring instruments. The adoption of an appropriate measurement strategy, with proper instruments suited for the characteristics of the observed structure and its environmental conditions, is of high priority in the planning of deformation monitoring processes. This paper describes the use of precise digital inclination sensors in continuous monitoring of structural deformations. The topic is treated from two viewpoints: (i) evaluation of the performance of inclination sensors by comparing them to static and continuous GPS observations in deformation monitoring and (ii) providing a strategy for analyzing the structural deformations. The movements of two case study objects, a tall building and a geodetic monument in Istanbul, were separately monitored using dual-axes micro-radian precision inclination sensors (inclinometers) and GPS. The time series of continuous deformation observations were analyzed using the Least Squares Spectral Analysis Technique (LSSA). Overall, the inclinometers showed good performance for continuous monitoring of structural displacements, even at the sub-millimeter level. Static GPS observations remained insufficient for resolving the deformations to the sub-centimeter level due to the errors that affect GPS signals. With the accuracy advantage of inclination sensors, their use with GPS provides more detailed investigation of deformation phenomena. Using inclinometers and GPS is helpful to be able to identify the components of structural responses to the natural forces as static, quasi-static, or resonant

LOCAL POSITIONING SYSTEMS VERSUS STRUCTURAL MONITORING: A REVIEW

SUMMARY Structural monitoring and structural health monitoring could take advantage from different devices to record the static or dynamic response of a structure. A positioning system provides displacement information on the location of moving objects, which is assumed to be the basic support to calibrate any structural mechanics model. The global positioning system could provide satisfactory accuracy in absolute displacement measurements. But the requirements of an open area position for the antennas and a roofed room for its data storage and power supply limit its flexibility and its applications. Several efforts are done to extend its field of application. The alternative is local positioning system. Non-contact sensors can be easily installed on existing infrastructure in different locations without changing their properties: several technological approaches have been exploited: laser-based, radar-based, vision-based, etc. In this paper, a number of existing options, together with their performances, are reviewed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd