Design and Validation of a Scalable, Reconfigurable and Low-Cost Structural Health Monitoring System

Abstract

This paper presents the design, development and testing of a low-cost Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system based on MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems) triaxial accelerometers. A new control system composed by a myRIO platform, managed by specific LabVIEW software, has been developed. The LabVIEW software also computes the frequency response functions for the subsequent modal analysis. The proposed SHM system was validated by comparing the data measured by this set-up with a conventional SHM system based on piezoelectric accelerometers. After carrying out some validation tests, a high correlation can be appreciated in the behavior of both systems, being possible to conclude that the proposed system is sufficiently accurate and sensitive for operative purposes, apart from being significantly more affordable than the traditional one.

Measurement of Acceleration Response Functions with Scalable Low-Cost Devices. An Application to the Experimental Modal Analysis

“…These devices are useful to induce vibration on a structure in a controlled way. By correlating the measured acting force with the measured response, the FRFs of the structure can be computed as shown in [ 18 ] and later in this work.…”

“…In general terms, the piezoelectric sensors produce higher quality measurements than the MEMS sensors, but at a significant higher cost. The authors presented in a previous work [ 18 ] a low-cost system based on MEMS accelerometers that is capable of acquiring high quality measurements at a fraction of the cost of a commercial system based on piezoelectric sensors.…”

“…To be considered as such, an SHM system not only requires a set of sensors but also a proficient data logger. In this sense, the low-cost system presented in the previous paper [ 18 ] was said to be scalable and potentially useful to estimate the structural modal properties, but only one device was used to monitor a simple timber beam and estimate its frequency response functions (FRFs). When scaling the system, several devices need to be connected to deal with larger amounts of sensors.…”

“…The estimated modal properties, including the mode shapes, which may be influenced by acquisition errors, are compared to the ones provided by the commercial system used as a reference. This reference system, presented in the previous work [ 18 ], is based on piezoelectric accelerometers and the SIRIUS ® datalogger from Dewesoft ® [ 28 ], specifically designed for this type of analysis. As a case study, the proposed system is applied to a timber structure.…”

An Effective Self-Powered Piezoelectric Sensor for Monitoring Basketball Skills

“…The shooting shots mainly consist of three technical components: elbow lift, arm extension, and wrist compression. However, in previous monitoring shooting techniques there are effect limitations on the monitoring and shooting skill analysis [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. For example, previous studies have monitored changes in joint angles of shoulder, elbow, wrist, and during basketball shooting and the related multiple freedom degrees.…”