Acellent Technologies, Inc. developed a smart structural health monitoring (SHM) sensor network that can autonomously assess in real time the structural stability of buildings. The sensor network uses piezoelectric actuators and sensors to characterize damage in, and monitor the rigidity of components of the building primary structure. Additionally, temperature sensors are integrated into the proposed sensor network to monitor the temperature of the structural components. Acellent's existing sensor network SMART Layer technology was used as the basis for the proposed development. The modifications to our existing technology included a redesigned sensor/actuator arrangement, the development of a SmartDAQ sensor package with the required sensor and electronics, and additional software that provides a map of the structural damage, temperature and rigidity information. This will be useful to provide a real time assessment of the building structural integrity. The data will be available for display to provide and early warning to first responders and emergency personnel to ensure their safety prior to entering the building.

Date Published: 8 April 2009
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 7294, Nondestructive Characterization for Composite Materials, Aerospace Engineering, Civil Infrastructure, and Homeland Security 2009, 72941B (8 April 2009); doi: 10.1117/12.816652

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7294:
Nondestructive Characterization for Composite Materials, Aerospace Engineering, Civil Infrastructure, and Homeland Security 2009
H. Felix Wu; Aaron A. Diaz; Peter J. Shull; Dietmar W. Vogel, Editor(s)