What is Structural Health Monitoring? 9 Important Points

Table of Contents

What is Structural Health Monitoring?

The objective of Structural Health Monitoring

Need of Structural Health Monitoring

What is the Procedure of Structural Health Monitoring?

What are the well-known structural health monitoring devices?

Fiber Optic Sensors

Accelerometer for Structural Health Monitoring

What is static field testing in structural health monitoring?

What is remote structural health monitoring?

What are the advantages and limitations of structural health monitoring?

Recent work and future scope in SHM

What is Structural Health Monitoring?

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is the procedure of monitoring variations in the geometric and material qualities of civil engineering structures like buildings and bridges over a period of time using sporadically sampled measurements.

The results of this procedure for long-term SHM have frequently updated information about the structure's ability to execute its envisioned function in light of the foreseeable age and degradation caused by operational settings. SHM is utilized for quick condition screening after life-threatening events such as earthquakes or landslides, and it seeks to offer trustworthy information on the structure's integrity in near real-time.

The objective of Structural Health Monitoring

An existing structure's performance can be improved. Following are the important conclusion that can be drawn from structural health monitoring:

• Monitoring of structures impacted by external influences
• Response loop to enhance forthcoming design model based on experience
• Evaluation of structural integrity after the earthquake
• The decline in construction and increase in maintenance requirements
• performance-based design philosophy

Need of Structural Health Monitoring

Observing a structure on a regular basis may help to extend its life and improve its performance. The appropriate maintenance can be determined through continual observation be carried out in order to extend the structure's life and Following it, there was a complete failure.

SHM aids in the decision-making process. Current structure status or damage to the structure if any and, as a result, any form of maintenance decided. Any country's economy is based on Bridges, railways, and roadways are examples of transportation infrastructure. etc. Any breakdown of these infrastructures on a structural level might be disastrous.

In the case of a country like India, there are numerous bridges that were built decades ago and are still in service. These bridges are now carrying heavier loads. Failure of these facilities could have a negative impact on the country's GDP. As a result, it is critical that these bridges be monitored regularly using suitable health monitoring techniques.

A sudden failure of any infrastructure could result in a catastrophic event, resulting in a loss of serviceability or access. The building is also vulnerable to a variety of natural phenomena that could cause harm. If structures are monitored continuously or on a regular basis, the behaviour of the structure can be better understood.

It will be quite beneficial for making adjustments to the structure's design. The frequency of hazardous incidents can be reduced with good SHM, and as a result, the country's economy and human psyche can be improved. If the damage is discovered before the structure fails, adequate actions can be done to prevent the structure from falling.

The economic growth of a country is harmed when a bridge or other tall structure collapses. Every structure is built to last a specific amount of time, and it is thought that it will continue to serve its purpose throughout that time.

What is the Procedure of Structural Health Monitoring?

Following are the steps or processes of structural health monitoring.

• Determination of damage existence
• Determination of damage’s geometric location
• Quantification of damage severity
• Estimate of the remaining life of the civil engineering structure

What are the well-known structural health monitoring devices?

Collecting precise and high-quality real-time measurements of structural element status, sharing this information with the control system, and signalling appropriate alerts if an unusual pattern is ever noticed are all critical components of structural health monitoring.

Sensors for structural health monitoring are designed to make the monitoring process easier while also providing maintenance engineers with decision-making tools to ensure the facility's and the public's safety. A typical health monitoring system consists of a network of sensors that measure stress, strain, vibration, tilt, humidity, and temperature, among other characteristics important to the current state of the structure and its surrounding environment.

Various types of SHM sensors have resulted from recent breakthroughs in sensor technology for structural health monitoring. The following is a quick rundown of the most commonly used SHM structural monitoring sensors.

Read More:

• What is Finite Element Analysis | Finite Element Modeling? 9 Important Points

• What is Earthquake Resistant Building | Structure? 8 Important Points

Fibre Optic Sensors

In recent years, fibre optic sensors have seen a lot of progress. These sensors can be used to measure a variety of factors in civil engineering. Strains, structural displacements, vibration frequencies, acceleration, pressure, temperature, and humidity are only a few examples.

The structure can be monitored on a local or global scale. The local approach focuses on material behaviour, whereas the global approach is responsible for monitoring overall structural performance. Fibre optic sensors have been investigated for a variety of applications, including strain monitoring of concrete bridge components.

Accelerometer for Structural Health Monitoring

An accelerometer is an electromechanical device that assesses acceleration forces in single or multiple axes. Such forces can be static, such as the constant pull of gravity on structural components, or dynamic, such as when a truck crosses a bridge, to detect motions or vibrations.

Accelerometers are used in a variety of applications, from smartphones to spinning machinery and civil infrastructure. Accelerometers can be utilized for real-time evaluation of structural dynamic features due to impact or changes in structural performance.

Accelerometers with several axes are primarily used to identify the magnitude and direction of correct acceleration. Accelerometers are also widely used in structures where the dynamic performance of the structure must be controlled in the short as well as in long term [Hashad 2018].

Evaluating and recording the dynamic performance of structures is crucial for assessing the safety and practicality of structural applications.

What is static field testing in structural health monitoring?

The static study's goals are to limit maximum strains and stresses, detect cracking in the structure, record strain variations during construction, testing, and in the next ten years and compare traditional and fiber optic systems.

What is remote structural health monitoring?

Latest advancements in low-cost remote monitoring systems have made large-scale structural health monitoring (SHM) conceivable and realistic. Due to the degree of specialization necessary, it is hard for a single remote monitoring system to handle a wide range of SHM applications.

This article introduces DuraMote, a new economical, advanced remote monitoring system that can aid as a next-generation supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for civil engineering infrastructure systems, in order to make the remote monitoring system more flexible, maintainable, and robust.

What are the advantages and limitations of structural health monitoring?

The current setup of structural health monitoring provides a safer option in which damage may be detected and repaired rapidly. One of the drawbacks has been the cost of the equipment, as well as the ongoing upkeep.

Recent work and future scope in SHM

A monitoring system is made up of a number of sensors that track the environment as well as the structural response to stresses. Remote sensors are attached directly to a centralized monitoring system in a conventional monitoring system configuration. A data collection system, however, because of the high cost of installation and maintenance, this architecture is not for everyone.

Replacement of wire-based systems is being driven by maintenance expenses associated with system wires (Lynch 2002). By disseminating knowledge across the whole monitoring network using new low-cost wireless sensing modules. As a result, putting up more effort to develop appropriate data processing algorithms is currently necessary.

I hope the above blog provides you with an in-depth knowledge of Structural Health Monitoring.

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Read More:

• What is Finite Element Analysis | Finite Element Modeling? 9 Important Points

• What is Earthquake Resistant Building | Structure? 8 Important Points

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