• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.5_6
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• pp.579-593
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• 2010

Low-power radio frequency (RF) chip transceiver technology and the associated structural health monitoring platforms have matured recently to enable high-rate, lossless transmission of measurement data across large-scale sensor networks. The intrinsic value of these advanced capabilities is the allowance for high-quality, rapid operational modal analysis of in-service structures using distributed accelerometers to experimentally characterize the dynamic response. From the analysis afforded through these dynamic data sets, structural identification techniques can then be utilized to develop a well calibrated finite element (FE) model of the structure for baseline development, extended analytical structural evaluation, and load response assessment. This paper presents a case study in which operational modal analysis is performed on a three-span prestressed reinforced concrete bridge using a wireless sensor network. The low-power wireless platform deployed supported a high-rate, lossless transmission protocol enabling real-time remote acquisition of the vibration response as recorded by twenty-nine accelerometers at a 256 Sps sampling rate. Several instrumentation layouts were utilized to assess the global multi-span response using a stationary sensor array as well as the spatially refined response of a single span using roving sensors and reference-based techniques. Subsequent structural identification using FE modeling and iterative updating through comparison with the experimental analysis is then documented to demonstrate the inherent value in dynamic response measurement across structural systems using high-rate wireless sensor networks.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.393-409
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• 2014

Across-wind response is often the cause of significant structural vibrations that in turn cause fatigue damage to welded and other connections. The efficacy of low-cost helical strakes to mitigate such adverse response is presented for a traffic signal structure. Field observations are made on a prototype structure in a natural wind environment without and with helical strakes installed on the cantilevered arm. Through continuous monitoring, the strakes were found to be effective in reducing across-wind response at wind speeds less than 10 m/s. Estimates of fatigue life are made for four different geographical locations and wind environments. Results for the class of traffic signal structure show that helical arm strakes are most effective in locations with benign wind environments where the average annual wind speed is not more than the vortex shedding wind speed, which for this investigation is 5 m/s. It is concluded that while strakes may be effective, it is not the panacea to mitigating connection fatigue at all locations.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.91-99
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• 2012

The main objective of this study is to examine the feasibility of using lead zirconate titanate (PZT)'s direct piezoelectric response as vibrational feature for damage monitoring in beam structures. For the purpose, modal strain energy (MSE)-based damage monitoring in beam structures using dynamic strain response based on the direct piezoelectric effect of PZT sensor is proposed in this paper. The following approaches are used to achieve the objective. First, the theoretical background of PZT's direct piezoelectric effect for dynamic strain response is presented. Next, the damage monitoring method that utilizes the change in MSE to locate of damage in beam structures is outlined. For validation, forced vibration tests are carried out on lab-scale cantilever beam. For several damage scenarios, dynamic responses are measured by three different sensor types (accelerometer, PZT sensor and electrical strain gage) and damage monitoring tasks are performed thereafter. The performance of PZT's direct piezoelectric response for MSE-based damage monitoring is evaluated by comparing the damage localization results from the three sensor types.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.6 s.52
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• pp.57-65
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• 2006

This paper presents hybrid structural damage monitoring system which performs both global damage assessment of structure and damage detection of local structural joints. Hybrid damage monitoring system is composed of vibration-based technique and electro/mechanic impedance technique. Vibration-based technique detects global characteristic change ot structure using modal characteristic change of structure, and electro/mechanical impedance technique detects damage existence of local structural joints using impedance change of PZT sensor. For the verification of the proposed hybrid monitoring system, a series of damage scenarios are designed to loosened bolts situations of the structural joints, and acceleration response and impedance response signatures are measured. The proposed hybrid monitoring system is implemented to monitor global damage-state and local damages in structural joints.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.255-268
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• 2019

Civil infrastructures, such as bridges and tunnels are most important assets and their failure during service will have significant economic and social impact in any country. Behavior of a bridge can be evaluated only through actual monitoring/measurements of bridge members under the loads of interest. Theoretical analysis alone is not a good predictor of the ability of a bridge. In some cases, theoretical analyses can give less effect than actual since theoretical analyses do not consider the actual condition of the bridge, support conditions, level of corrosion and damage in members and connections etc. Hence actual measurements of bridge response should be considered in making decisions on structural integrity, especially in cases of high value bridges (large spans and major crossings). This paper describes in detail the experimental investigations carried out on an open web type steel railway bridge. Strain gages and displacement transducers were installed at critical locations and responses were measured during passage of locomotives. Stresses were evaluated and extrapolated to maximum design loading. The responses measured from the bridge were within the permissible limits. The methodology adopted shall be used for assessing the structural integrity of the bridge for the design loads.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.359-362
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• 2005

Self diagnosis monitoring system is defined as concrete structural carbon and glass hybrid fiber materials, in response to the change in external disturbance and environments, toward structural safety and serviceability as well as the extension of structural service life. In this study, carbon and glass hybrid fiber materials were investigated fundamentally for the applicability of self diagnosis in smart concrete structural system as embedded functions of sensors.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.17 no.3_4
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• pp.409-428
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• 2004

In this paper, a Holder exponent, a measure of the degree to which a signal is differentiable, is presented to detect the presence of a discontinuity and when the discontinuity occurs in a dynamic signal. This discontinuity detection has potential applications to structural health monitoring because discontinuities are often introduced into dynamic response data as a result of certain types of damage. Wavelet transforms are incorporated with the Holder exponent to capture the time varying nature of discontinuities, and a classification procedure is developed to quantify when changes in the Holder exponent are significant. The proposed Holder exponent analysis is applied to various experimental signals to reveal underlying damage causing events from the signals. Signals being analyzed include acceleration response of a mechanical system with a rattling internal part, acceleration signals of a three-story building model with a loosing bolt, and strain records of an in-situ bridge during construction. The experimental results presented in this paper demonstrate that the Holder exponent can be an effective tool for identifying certain types of events that introduce discontinuities into the measured dynamic response data.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.201-210
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• 2018

The improvement in computing systems and sensor technologies devotes to conduct data-driven structural health monitoring algorithms for existing civil infrastructures. Despite of the development of techniques, the uncertainty oriented from the measurement results in the discrepancy to the actual structural parameters and let engineers or decision makers hesitate to adopt such techniques. Many studies have shown that the modal identification results can be affected by the uncertainties due to the applied methods and the types of loading. This paper aims to compare the performance of modal identification methods using Structural Modal Identification Toolsuite (SMIT) which has been developed to facilitate multiple identification methods with a user-friendly designed platform. The data fed into SMIT processes three stages for the comprehensive identification including preprocessing, eigenvalue estimation, and post-processing. The seismic and white noise response for shear frame model was obtained from numerical simulation. The identified modal parameters is compared to the actual modal parameters. In order to improve the quality of coherence in identified modal parameters, several hurdles including modal phase collinearity and extended modal amplitude coherence were introduced. Numerical simulation conducted on the 5 dof shear frame model were used to validate the effectiveness of using these parameters.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.561-576
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• 2022

Heritage timber structures represent the history and culture of a nation. These structures have been inherited from previous generations; however, they inevitably exhibit deterioration over time, potentially leading to structural deficiencies. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) offers the potential to assess operational anomalies, deterioration, and damage through processing and analysis of data collected from transducers and sensors mounted on the structure. This paper reports on the design and implementation of a long-term SHM system on the Feiyun Wooden Pavilion in China, a three-story timber building built more than 500 years ago. The principles and features of the design and implementation of SHM systems for heritage timber buildings are systematically discussed. In total, 104 sensors of 6 different types are deployed on the structure to monitor the environmental effects and structural responses, including air temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction, structural temperatures, strain, inclination, and acceleration. In addition, integrated data acquisition and transmission subsystem using a newly developed software platform are implemented. Selected preliminary statistical and correlation analysis using one year of monitoring data are presented to demonstrate the condition assessment capability of the system based on the monitoring data.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.283-292
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• 2021

In this study, a structural health monitoring system for cable-stayed bridges is developed. In the system, condition assessment of the structure is performed based on measured records from seismic accelerometers. Response indices are defined to monitor structural safety and serviceability and derived from the measured acceleration data. The derivation process of the indices is structured to follow the transformation from the raw data to the outcome. The process includes noise filtering, baseline correction, numerical integration, and calculation of relative differences. The system is packed as a condition assessment program, which consists of four major processes of the structural health evaluation: (i) format conversion of the raw data, (ii) noise filtering, (iii) generation of response indices, and (iv) condition evaluation. An example set of limit states is presented to evaluate the structural condition of the test-bed and cable-stayed bridge.