A Low-Cost Sensing Solution for SHM, Exploiting a Dedicated Approach for Signal Recognition.

Area of Science:

• Civil Engineering
• Structural Health Monitoring
• Embedded Systems

Background:

• Structural health monitoring (SHM) is vital for infrastructure maintenance, especially in seismic regions.
• Predicting structural damage and identifying risks require robust SHM approaches.
• Existing methods can be costly and complex, necessitating affordable solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a low-cost structural health monitoring (SHM) solution.
• To develop and validate a customized embedded system for data acquisition.
• To implement and test an algorithm for classifying monitoring signals.

Main Methods:

• Development of a customized embedded system for signal acquisition and storage.
• Experimental assessment of the sensing node's performance.
• Application of a dedicated algorithm for signal classification into noise, exogenous, and structural response categories.

Main Results:

• The embedded system demonstrated high performance in acceleration (0.55 mg) and tilt (0.020°) measurements.
• The classification algorithm effectively distinguished between noise, exogenous sources, and structural responses.
• The system proved capable of identifying structural responses to various stimuli.

Conclusions:

• The proposed low-cost SHM system offers a viable solution for structural condition assessment.
• The developed algorithm is effective in filtering irrelevant signals and identifying critical structural responses.
• This approach enhances the safety and maintenance of buildings and civil infrastructures, particularly in seismic areas.