Structural Health Monitoring Strategies for Smart Sensor Networks

Gao, Yong; Spencer, Billie F., Jr.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/8802 Copy

Description

Title

Structural Health Monitoring Strategies for Smart Sensor Networks

Author(s)

• Gao, Yong
• Spencer, Billie F., Jr.

Issue Date

2008-05

Keyword(s)

• Structural Health Monitoring
• Damage Detection
• Distributed Computing
• Flexibility Matrix
• Smart Sensors

Abstract

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is an emerging field in civil engineering, offering the potential for continuous and periodic assessment of the safety and integrity of civil infrastructure. Based on knowledge of the condition of the structure, certain preventative measures can be carried out to prolong the service life of the structure and prevent catastrophic failure. However, challenges remain to apply SHM to civil engineering structures. The research detailed in this report has three complimentary efforts that seek to address some of those challenges. The first component is to experimentally verify an existing damage detection method utilizing a three-dimensional 14-bay truss structure at the Smart Structures Technology Laboratory (SSTL) of University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign (UIUC). This flexibility-matrix-based method has drawn considerable attention recently; however, only numerical validation had been previously provided. Experimental verification allows assessment of the efficacy of the method in practice. The second part of the work is directed toward extending the flexibility-matrixbased approach to continuous online SHM employing ambient vibration (i.e., unmeasured input excitations). Continuous online SHM of civil infrastructure is highly desired, because it allows early detection of the damage in a structure and therefore offers the possibility to extend the service life of the structure. Finally, a new distributed computing SHM strategy, which is suitable for implementation on arrays of densely distributed smart sensors, is proposed for monitoring of civil infrastructure. Recent development of smart sensor technology has the potential to fundamentally change how civil infrastructure will be monitored. Damage detection algorithms which can take advantage of smart sensor technology are highly desired, but currently very limited. The new approach proposed in this research is different from the traditional ones which have relied on central data acquisition and processing, and therefore meshes well with the distributed computing environment offered by smart sensor technology. A strong basis for application of SHM to civil engineering structures using smart sensors has been provided.

Publisher

Newmark Structural Engineering Laboratory. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Series/Report Name or Number

Newmark Structural Engineering Laboratory Report Series 011

ISSN

1940-9826

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/8802

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Copyright held by the authors. All rights reserved.

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