Abstract
A radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag sensor for the real time monitoring of cracks in civil engineering building is presented in this work. The RFID tag is equipped with a piezoelectric sensor able to detect small movements of crack in order to prevent collapses of buildings or civil engineering structures. The information is delivered by using the modulated scattering technique (MST) which permits to obtain high operative ranges. The sensor is passive, the power supply is provided by means of a suitable rect-antenna and a Chockcroft-Walton multiplier circuit powered by means of the impinging interrogating electromagnetic wave. A system prototype, operating in the X band at 10 GHz, has been designed fabricated and experimentally assessed in a realistic scenario obtaining promising results.
Highlights
The structural integrity monitoring of civil engineering structures such as building, bridges, roads and dams is a topic of great interest [1,2,3,4], the recent collapse of Morandi’s bridge in Genoa, Italy it is an example of the need for efficient monitoring systems able to prevent sudden collapse
After natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and landslips, the assessment of the structural integrity of civil engineering structures is of crucial importance to simplify the rescue operations, reduce the financial losses and save lives
Radio frequency identifier (RFID) is a well known technology which can be useful for monitoring applications
Summary
The structural integrity monitoring of civil engineering structures such as building, bridges, roads and dams is a topic of great interest [1,2,3,4], the recent collapse of Morandi’s bridge in Genoa, Italy it is an example of the need for efficient monitoring systems able to prevent sudden collapse. The probing procedures based on coring could cause further damages or the structure collapse at worst Another simple crack monitoring procedure widely used by construction companies and bricklayers is the use of glass crack width rulers. Despite the good performances of such tags, they are quite expensive and they cannot be further miniaturized since they operate at 900 MHz, a frequency band which requires antennas of big dimension with respect to microwave frequency bands, despite recent advances RFID systems are still not enough efficient for real time monitoring applications [16,17,18]). The proposed MST crack detection sensor can be used to remotely inspect the structural integrity of buildings, bridges, roads by using a suitable reader placed far away from the dangerous area.
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