University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Flexible Smart Sensor Framework for Autonomous Full-scale Structural Health Monitoring

Rice, Jennifer A.; Spencer, Billie F., Jr.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/13635

Description

Title
Flexible Smart Sensor Framework for Autonomous Full-scale Structural Health Monitoring
Author(s)
  • Rice, Jennifer A.
  • Spencer, Billie F., Jr.
Issue Date
2009-08
Keyword(s)
  • smart sensors
  • wireless sensor network
  • structural health monitoring
  • MEMS sensors
  • decentralized computing
  • bridge monitoring
  • autonomous monitoring
Abstract
The demands of aging infrastructure require effective methods for structural monitoring and maintenance. Wireless smart sensors provide an attractive means for structural health monitoring (SHM) through the utilization of onboard computation to achieve distributed data management. Such an approach is scalable to the large number of sensor nodes required for high-fidelity modal analysis and damage detection. While much of the technology associated with smart sensors has been available for nearly a decade, there have been limited numbers of full-scale implementations due to the lack of critical hardware and software elements. This research develops a flexible smart sensor framework for full-scale, autonomous SHM that integrates the necessary software and hardware while addressing key implementation requirements. The Imote2 smart sensor platform is employed herein, providing for the first time the enhanced computation and communication resources that support demanding sensor network applications such as SHM of civil infrastructure. A multimetric Imote2 sensor board with onboard signal processing specifically designed for SHM applications has been designed and validated. Flexible network management software combines a sleep/wake cycle for enhanced power efficiency with threshold detection for triggering network wide operations such as synchronized sensing or decentralized modal analysis. A cable-stayed bridge in South Korea serves as one of the test beds for this effort, both informing and driving system development. This research has resulted in the first autonomous, full-scale implementation of a wireless smart sensor network for structural health monitoring.
Publisher
Newmark Structural Engineering Laboratory. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Series/Report Name or Number
Newmark Structural Engineering Laboratory Report Series 018
ISSN
1940-9826
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/13635
Copyright and License Information
Copyright held by the authors. All rights reserved.

Owning Collections

Newmark Structural Laboratory Report Series (NSEL Report Series ISSN 1940-9826) PRIMARY
Report series highlights research conducted at the Newmark Structural Engineering Laboratory