A Connected World – Structural Health Monitoring

A Connected World – Structural Health Monitoring

Hey everyone, today I am blogging about something I took a keen interest to when I was studying (aside from crypto). I’ll be exploring purposes of structural health monitoring (SHM) and the techniques that are available within the Engineering/Construction industry.

Structural Health Monitoring Systems

SHM makes use of various monitoring techniques within an infrastructure to collect data. Sensors are implemented, continuously collecting data which is then processed and evaluated into said system. The monitoring system is able to detect structural degradation at early stages of manifestation. This early approach allows appropriate planning and maintenance procedures to take place. The overall concept allows SHM systems to promote better serviceability, safety and maintenance costs on a long term basis.

SHM systems have been adopted within a variety of structures. The broad spectrum of engineering construction demands an adaptable solution that can provide an efficient monitoring system during service.

Probability of Failure

Modernization of Civil Engineering applications have brought about developments that incorporate technology within SHM systems. The practice of structural monitoring has been available since the origins of structural mechanics.

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SHM systems often make use of computational and physical laws which aim to estimate the reliability of structures with attention to the “time-dependent safety problem (Mori and Ellingwood, 1993)”.

Source - Mori, Y. and Ellingwood, B. (1993). Time-dependent system reliability analysis by adaptive importance sampling.

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Monte Carlo simulations make use of sampling and probability theory to establish an estimate of time-dependent system reliability.

So while this provides a complex and near accurate method of reliability analysis, SHM systems add to this practice by making use of modern science technology.

Combining this theory with monitoring instruments allows better sampling. Observation using in-situ tools show how modern day SHM systems take advantage of new sensing technologies. An active observation of the structure serves as a more reliable method of structural monitoring applications in addition to data analysis.

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Chasing Efficiency

As SHM systems continue to progress, it is important to consider the aim and focus of each development. Sustainable development has been a central focus of the Engineering world. With increasing sustainability issues, industry faces even tougher market conditions. As such, this encourages design solutions that are suited to improve economic, social and environmental impacts.

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Structural health monitoring is a major contributing factor that effects the sustainability of a project as mentioned earlier, it aims to maximize serviceability of a structure. Improvements of safety are reason alone to pursue development of SHM system as this would provide:

Minimal maintenance cost
Minimal downtime
Lower implementation cost
Improved sustainability and redundancy

A stable maintenance cost whilst keeping structural integrity maximized can be seen against structures without SHM systems. The main issue however presents itself within implementation cost which can only be justified if the cost savings are expected to exceed its original investment. Considering this requirement, the development of SHM applications is still evolving new methods / materials are being developed for a more efficient system.

Smart sensing technologies have been the latest area of developments within SHM systems. It has been able to provide a flexible monitoring solution that give periodic diagnosis as part of an automated system. New sensor types allow monitoring of structures that require high sensitivity for example, static bridge deflections that make use of non-contact radar displacement sensors.

The Data Driven Future

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With a basic understanding of SHM systems, it’s only natural that large data firms will be looking to develop services that will make the data we collect useful and accessible. IBM are driving new products that see fault detection inclusive of AI and machine learning point to a future of better asset management and efficient maintenance procedures.

I believe a connected approach to SHM is the future of the world. We can easily avoid catastrophic events by identifying issues early and strategizing action plans.

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So that’s all I have to say about the world of SHM, a developing and perhaps unknown area to many. I developed a passion for BIM and Monitoring Engineering Technologies during my studies. I eventually tied this with blockchain technology applied to a major design project. I hope to post about this sometime and get some comments about it : )

Thanks for reading

Momosan