A low-cost, multichannel early warning active structural health monitoring system using piezoelectric sensors
About
This Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) platform technology is specifically designed for applications in harsh environments and for large scale structures. It was developed using a low-cost electronic circuit that measures in analogue form, the current and its phase difference to the applied voltage, through a piezoelectric transducer (PZT). By using it in conjunction with an analogue to digital converter (ADC) outputs of the PZT are captured.
Key Benefits
Provides low-cost instrumentation for active SHM; Activates and reads multiple sensors (e.g. 100 or more) simultaneously; Works over a wide frequency range from 10 KHz to 1 MHz. Achieves 99% accuracy Does not require the use of an expensive commercial impedance analyser. Simplifies real-time monitoring and prediction of: • surface and body crack development dynamics • environmental damage development • damage zone development dynamics.
Applications
• Infrastructure • Mining Engineering • Geotechnical Engineering • Civil Engineering • Oil and gas industry • Machinery and equipment.