Abstract
The use of wireless sensors in Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) has increased significantly in the last years. Piezoelectric-based lead zirconium titanate (PZT) sensors have been on the rise in SHM due to their superior sensing abilities. They are applicable in different technologies such as electromechanical impedance (EMI)-based SHM. This work develops a flexible wireless smart sensor (WSS) framework based on the EMI method using active sensors for full-scale and autonomous SHM. In contrast to passive sensors, the self-sensing properties of the PZTs allow interrogating with or exciting a structure when desired. The system integrates the necessary software and hardware within a service-oriented architecture approach able to provide in a modular way the services suitable to satisfy the key requirements of a WSS. The framework developed in this work has been validated on different experimental applications. Initially, the reliability of the EMI method when carried out with the proposed wireless sensor system is evaluated by comparison with the wireless counterpart. Afterwards, the performance of the system is evaluated in terms of software stability and reliability of functioning.
Highlights
Interest in Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) has increased a lot in recent years as related to both research and implementation [1,2,3,4]
The system is scalable since new sensor nodes can be added to the network keeping only one coordinator node, with the purpose of covering different areas of a complex and large structure
By means of a Web application, the user can interact remotely with the database of the system and choose from the offered services. Some of these services are the request of execution of a new test, the management of the stored data concerning to an experimental test previously carried out, the addiction of new networks and the addition of new wireless sensor nodes to a network
Summary
Interest in Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) has increased a lot in recent years as related to both research and implementation [1,2,3,4]. It must not be forgotten that nowadays, considering the age of civil infrastructure, the cost of maintenance and rehabilitation of this infrastructure in advanced countries represent an enormous effort in their budget In this sense, the efficient use of monitoring technologies might be suitable for controlling the condition of existing infrastructure systems with the purpose of increasing their service life and reducing maintenance costs, the results of which are essential for the development of a sustainable civil infrastructure preservation system. Conventional approaches consist in installing wires to connect local sensors and a centralized data monitoring system These wired systems involve a high cost associated with their management, installation and maintenance and, their deployment can take a long period of time [16]. Wireless sensing systems can be installed and uninstalled rapidly making temporary, emergency deployments of health monitoring systems possible at relatively short time They constitute an attractive and economical alternative to the wired conventional systems and offer a very wide potential of improvement and development. The main characteristics of the proposed system are described in more detail and some experimental studies performed with it are presented and compared with results obtained using an active wired conventional system based on EMI method
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