• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.393-416
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• 2011

Hybrid acceleration-impedance sensor nodes on Imote2-platform are designed for damage monitoring in steel girder connections. Thus, the feasibility of the sensor nodes is examined about its performance for vibration-based global monitoring and impedance-based local monitoring in the structural systems. To achieve the objective, the following approaches are implemented. First, a damage monitoring scheme is described in parallel with global vibration-based methods and local impedance-based methods. Second, multi-scale sensor nodes that enable combined acceleration-impedance monitoring are described on the design of hardware components and embedded software to operate. Third, the performances of the multi-scale sensor nodes are experimentally evaluated from damage monitoring in a lab-scaled steel girder with bolted connection joints.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.221-235
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• 2022

Among nondestructive damage detection methods, impedance-based methods have been recognized as an effective technique for damage identification in many kinds of structures. This paper proposes a method to detect cracks in metal structures by combining electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) responses and artificial neural networks (ANN). Firstly, the theories of EMI responses and impedance-based damage detection methods are described. Secondly, the reliability of numerical simulations for impedance responses is demonstrated by comparing to pre-published results for an aluminum beam. Thirdly, the proposed method is used to detect cracks in the beam. The RMSD (root mean square deviation) index is used to alarm the occurrence of the cracks, and the multi-layer perceptron (MLP) ANN is employed to identify the location and size of the cracks. The selection of the effective frequency range is also investigated. The analysis results reveal that the proposed method accurately detects the cracks' occurrence, location, and size in metal structures.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.65-71
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• 2009

To address the need for new intelligent sensing, this paper introduces nano sensors made of carbon nanotube (CNT) composites and presents their preliminary experiments. Having smart material properties such as piezoresistivity, chemical and bio selectivity, the nano composite can be used as smart electrodes of the nano sensors. The nano composite sensor can detect structural deterioration, chemical contamination and bio signal by means of its impedance measurement (resistance and capacitance). For a structural application, the change of impedance shows specific patterns depending on the structural deterioration and this characteristic is available for an in-situ multi-functional sensor, which can simultaneously detect multi symptoms of the structure. This study is anticipated to develop a new nano sensor detecting multiple symptoms in structural, chemical and bio applications with simple electric circuits.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.265-271
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• 2018

This paper presents a method for detecting damage to a structure at low cost using its impedance. The impedance technique is a typical method to detect local damage for structural health monitoring. This is a common technique for estimating damage by monitoring the electro-mechanical admittance signal of the structure. To apply this technique, an expensive impedance analyzer is generally used. On the other hand, it is necessary to develop a low-cost variant to effectively disseminate the technique. In this study, a method based on the transfer impedance using a function generator and digital multimeter, which are generally used in the laboratory instead of an impedance analyzer, was developed. That is, this technique estimates the damage by comparing the damage index using the amplitude ratio of the output voltage measured in the healthy and damaged state. A transfer impedance test was carried out on a steel specimen. By comparing the damage index, the presence of damage could be assessed reasonably. This study is a basic investigation of an impedance-based low-cost damage detection method that can be used effectively for structural health monitoring if supplemented with future research to estimate the damage location and severity.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.237-253
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• 2017

Among various structural health monitoring technologies, impedance-based damage detection has been recognized as a promising tool for diagnosing critical members of civil structures. Since the piezoelectric transducers used in the impedance-based technique should be bonded to the surface of the structure using bonding layers (e.g., epoxy layer), it is hard to maintain the as-built condition of the bonding layers and to reconfigure the devices if needed. This study presents an experimental investigation by using magnetically attached PZT-interface for the impedance-based damage detection in bolted girder connections. Firstly, the principle of the impedance-based damage detection via the PZT-interface device is outlined. Secondly, a PZT-interface attachment method in which permanent magnets are used to replace the conventional bonding layers is proposed. Finally, the use of the magnetic attraction for the PZT-interface is experimentally evaluated via detecting the bolt-loosening events in a bolted girder connection. Also, the sensitivity of impedance signatures obtained from the PZT-interface is analyzed with regard to the interface's material.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.217-223
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• 2007

This paper introduces an active sensing node using radio-frequency (RF) telemetry. This device has brought the traditional impedance-based structural health monitoring (SHM) technique to a new paradigm. The RF active sensing node consists of a miniaturized impedance measuring device (AD5933), a microcontroller (ATmega128L), and a radio frequency (RF) transmitter (XBee). A macro-fiber composite (MFC) patch interrogates a host structure by using a self-sensing technique of the miniaturized impedance measuring device. All the process including structural interrogation, data acquisition, signal processing, and damage diagnostic is being performed at the sensor location by the microcontroller. The RF transmitter is used to communicate the current status of the host structure. The feasibility of the proposed SHM strategy is verified through an experimental study inspecting loose bolts in a bolt-jointed aluminum structure.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.107-117
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• 2011

In this study, the effect of temperature-induced uncertainty to damage monitoring using acceleration-impedance response features is analyzed for presterssed concrete(PSC) girder bridges. Firstly, a damage monitoring algorithm using global and local vibration features is designed. As global and local features, acceleration and electro-mechanical impedance features are selected respectively. Secondly, the temperature effect on the acceleration and impedance features for a lab-scaled PSC girder is experimentally analyzed. From the experimental results, compensation models for temperature-acceleration features and temperature-impedance features are estimated. Finally, the feasibility of the acceleration-impedance-based damage monitoring technique using the compensation model is evaluated in the PSC girder for which a set of prestress-loss and flexural stiffness loss cases were dynamically tested.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.139-155
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• 2011

Polymeric thin-film assemblies whose bulk electrical conductivity and mechanical performance have been enhanced by single-walled carbon nanotubes are proposed for measuring strain and corrosion activity in metallic structural systems. Similar to the dermatological system found in animals, the proposed self-sensing thin-film assembly supports spatial strain and pH sensing via localized changes in electrical conductivity. Specifically, electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is used to create detailed mappings of film conductivity over its complete surface area using electrical measurements taken at the film boundary. While EIT is a powerful means of mapping the sensing skin's spatial response, it requires a data acquisition system capable of taking electrical impedance measurements on a large number of electrodes. A low-cost wireless impedance analyzer is proposed to fully automate EIT data acquisition. The key attribute of the device is a flexible sinusoidal waveform generator capable of generating regulated current signals with frequencies from near-DC to 20 MHz. Furthermore, a multiplexed sensing interface offers 32 addressable channels from which voltage measurements can be made. A wireless interface is included to eliminate the cumbersome wiring often required for data acquisition in a structure. The functionality of the wireless impedance analyzer is illustrated on an experimental setup with the system used for automated acquisition of electrical impedance measurements taken on the boundary of a bio-inspired sensing skin recently proposed for structural health monitoring.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.339-356
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• 2014

This study has been motivated to evaluate the practicality of numerical simulation of impedance monitoring for damage detection in steel column connection. In order to achieve the objective, the following approaches are implemented. Firstly, the theory of electro-mechanical (E/M) impedance responses and impedance-based damage monitoring method are outlined. Secondly, the feasibility of numerical simulation of impedance monitoring is verified for several pre-published experimental examples on steel beams, cracked aluminum beams, and aluminum round plates. Undamaged and damaged steel and aluminum beams are simulated to compare to experimental impedance responses. An aluminum round plate with PZT patch in center is simulated to investigate sensitive range of impedance responses. Finally, numerical simulation of the impedance-based damage monitoring is performed for a steel column connection in which connection bolts are damaged. From the numerical simulation test, the applicability of the impedance-based monitoring to the target steel column connection can be evaluated.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.361-369
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• 2017

Electromechanical impedance method as an efficient tool in Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) utilizes the electromechanical impedance of piezoelectric materials which is directly related to the mechanical impedance of the host structure and will be affected by damages. In this paper, electromechanical impedance of piezoelectric patches attached to simply support rectangular plate is determined theoretically and experimentally in order to detect damage. A pairs of piezoelectric wafer active sensor (PWAS) patches are used on top and bottom of an aluminum plate to generate pure bending. The analytical model and experiments are carried out both for undamaged and damaged plates. To validate theoretical models, the electromechanical impedances of PWAS for undamaged and damaged plate using theoretical models are compared with those obtained experimentally. Both theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that by crack generation and intensifying this crack, natural frequency of structure decreases. Finally, in order to evaluate damage severity, damage metrics such as Root Mean Square Deviation (RMSD), Mean Absolute Percentage Deviation (MAPD), and Correlation Coefficient Deviation (CCD) are used based on experimental results. The results show that generation of crack and crack depth increasing can be detectable by CCD.