Abstract
Smartphone technology is rapidly evolving, adding sensors of growing accuracy and precision. Structural engineers are among customers who indirectly benefit from such technological advances. This paper tests whether accelerometers installed in new generations of smartphones can reach the accuracy of professional accelerometers created for vibration monitoring of civil engineering structures, and how they can be useful. The paper describes an experimental study designed to measure walking-induced vibrations of a slender prefabricated prestressed concrete slab. Both traditional, high-accuracy, accelerometers and those integrated into commercial smartphones were used for experimental data collection. Direct comparison of the recordings yielded two key findings: the accuracy of smartphone accelerometers largely depends on the specific smartphone model, and nevertheless is satisfactory for preliminary modal testing at the very least. Furthermore, the smartphone measured accelerations of the lower back were used successfully to indirectly measure pedestrian walking loads.
Highlights
Vibration serviceability governs the design of contemporary civil engineering structures, such as footbridges and floors [1]
This paper studies performance of accelerometers integrated in state-of-the-art smartphones in vibration serviceability assessment of a slender prefabricated prestressed concrete slab
The focus of this work is on investigating the capacity of using smartphones as sensors to carry out modal testing of the structure, extract meaningful modal parameters useful for validating numerical models, and estimate pedestrian loading
Summary
Vibration serviceability governs the design of contemporary civil engineering structures, such as footbridges and floors [1]. Recent studies (e.g., [11,12,13,14]) on shaking table have shown that typical accelerometers inside high-end smartphones are capable of recording motions in a frequency range of interest for many civil structures (0.2–20 Hz), with an acceleration amplitude range (10–2000 mg) [14] sufficient for practical applications in the field of vibration monitoring and modal testing. Indirect computation provides more freedom and force measurements in natural environments, on real structures rather than in laboratories All these methods have disadvantages, and data collection is not always easy while the specialized technology required (e.g., [8,25,38,39]) might not be readily available, so this study aims to test if accelerometers in smartphones can be used to this purpose.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
