Development of a Prototype Remote Structural Health Monitoring System (RSHMS)

Abstract

SUMMARY The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK awarded a three-year contract to The University of Nottingham and Cranfield University to collaboratively investigate the feasibility of using computational simulation and GPS sensors for structural health monitoring (SHM). This paper is one part of this joint research between two parties. In the project, GPS and triaxial accelerometers are two kinds of basic sensors which are extensively used in the structural deformation monitoring of different scale bridges. This paper consists of two parts. The first part is a comprehensive review to the prototype RSHMS, including hardware configuration, accuracy assessment to the proposed sensor system, an real-time adaptive filtering algorithm developed for data integration of different sensors, field data acquisitions and various deformation analysis approaches. The second part is a brief discussion on a specifically developed finite element (FE) model for predicting theoretical dynamics by the project partner, Cranfield University. The real dynamics of the structures under different environments are compared with predicted ones. Results demonstrate that it is possible to use modern satellite positioning technology augmented by other sensors to realise highly accurate structural health monitoring with less human intervention.