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    Structural health monitoring

    Smart IoT applications

structural health monitoring

Structural health monitoring (SHM) involves the observation and analysis of data samples coming from a system that monitors changes to the material and geometric properties of structures like buildings (ancient and modern), bridges, dams, tunnels. How this can happen?

SHM monitoring systems are commonly composed of: sensors, data acquisition systems (data logger), data transfer systems, data management systems and data analysis.

Typical measurement samples are: vibration amplitude or frequency, stress state, strain, inclination, displacements, deformation, cracking. Furthermore, it is also important to determine the external actions to which the structure is subject; for this reason, various environmental parameters such as wind, temperature, humidity, etc. are really important.

The analysis of collected data can provide essential information for the correct interpretation of the structural functioning, especially for structures of particular complexity or degradation phenomena in progress where a 24/7 monitoring is strongly recommended.

Benefits

  • to reduce maintenance and operations costs

  • to reduce the risk of structural collapses

  • to automatize data reading and collection

  • to improve safety in workplaces, public places, structures

Structural monitoring can involve the entire structure (global monitoring) or only a part (local monitoring) and it can be:

  • Short term

    to examine the state of the structure at a specific moment in time

  • Continuous

    where the structure is monitored for a very long period of time (months, years or for the entire useful life of the structure itself)

  • Periodic

    when various short-term monitoring is repeated at a given time interval

  • Triggered

    when acquisitions are made even when the threshold values set by the designer or technical regulations are exceeded with the possibility, when that happens, to activate alarms