ICSBE2018-502

USING SUB-GIGAHERTZ WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY FOR REAL-TIME

STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING SYSTEM FOR HIGH RISE BUILDINGS
P. Vishnu 1*, C. S. Lewangamage2, K. J. C. Kumara3, M. T. R. Jayasinghe4, A. Darby5, D. N. T. M.
Siriwardhana6

1 Research Associate, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.

2Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
3Senior Lecturer, Department1My Institute/Company, Address.
of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, University of Ruhuna,
2My Institute/Company, Address
Sri Lanka.
*Correspondence
4Senior professor, DepartmentE-mail:
of Civilauthor@pdn.ac.lk, TP: +9477××××××××
Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
5Reader, Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering, University of Bath, United Kingdom.
6Structural Design Engineer, Sanken Construction (Pvt) Ltd.,Sri Lanka.

Abstract: Introduction of new wireless communication protocols has resulted in increasing popularity of
monitoring civil engineering structures using wireless sensor networks. However, high rise buildings are
considered to be difficult for establishing wireless networks due to the presence of heavy slabs, furniture
and metal pipes running across the buildings, interfering with the vertical transmission of the carrier waves.
On the other hand, the efficiency of wireless sensor networks depends mainly on sharing the data packets
among sensor nodes without the loss of packets. Carrier waves travel through obstructions by penetrating
the obstruction or by taking multiple reflective paths, whereas higher frequency of the carrier wave lowers
ability to travel over large distances. The ability of data transfer is also reduced with decreasing frequency.
However, in a high rise building, it is not possible to compensate one - data transfer rate or area of coverage
and penetrating ability for the other. This paper discusses the importance of the application of Sub-Giga
hertz technology in the form of wireless technology. The advantages and restrictions of using Sub-Gigahertz
wireless technology as carrier waves and the corresponding performance of sensor networks are also
discussed in this paper.

Keywords — Structural Health Monitoring; tall building accelerations; Wireless smart

sensors; low cost; Sub-Giga Hertz ; Wireless technology;

1. Introduction directly influenced by the stiffness of the

Sri Lanka has seen a very rapid increase in
the number of tall buildings since the
construction of the Bank of Ceylon tower
consisting of 30 floors, which was followed
by the twin towers of World Trade Centre in
1995 having 40 floors each. At present, the
tallest building in the country consists of 67
floors and the number of total floors in
future buildings is likely to be even higher.
One of the key features of the tall buildings
is their behaviour as a cantilever in response
to lateral wind load, with a substantial fixity
at the ground level. Hence, when the
number of floors is high, buildings tend to
move in elliptical fashion due to the wind-
induced forces of various magnitudes that
primarily depend on wind speed, the
presence or absence of the obstructions and
the shape of the building, while being
structure (Burton et al., 2015). However, one
of the important aspects in this regard is
that these movements cannot be prevented,
and can lead to discomfort, lack of well-
being and loss of productivity depending
upon their magnitude (Huang, Chan and
Kwok, 2011). This problem of movement is
thought to be even acute in apartment
buildings.
At present, such movements are predicted
by calculating the wind-induced
acceleration of the building using empirical
equations given in various codes. The urban
development guidelines applicable to tall
buildings in Sri Lanka makes the provision
of adequate car parking in tall buildings
(CMC Regulations, 2008) mandatory, where
the need to comply with strictly enforced
requirements for the car parks means that
ICSBE2018-Type your PaperID here
the superstructure vertical member
arrangement requires a transfer floor or
large transfer beams, for efficient space
planning and optimisation in the upper part
of the building. Hence the structural
arrangements used in the tall buildings in
Sri Lanka can differ substantially from the
buildings from which the empirical
equations are derived (Aerodynamics,
Engineering and Engineering, 1992) thus
warranting a detailed study involving
measurements taken in real buildings with
typical structural forms present in Sri
Lanka. This situation is further aggravated
with the introduction of pre-stressed
concrete flat plates in many commercial and
apartment buildings of recent origin, thus
adding further unknown parameters.
Hence, the calibration of empirical
equations in codes (e.g. Structural Design
Actions (Aus/NZ), 2011) which are
currently being utilized for lateral load
behaviour predictions is an urgent
requirement.
2. Sub-Giga Hertz wireless connectivity
Advances in wireless sensor networks are
well proven and commonly used in
Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). Sub-
Giga Hertz wireless connectivity is a new
paradigm which incorporates automated
systems for data acquisition, in monitoring,
analysis and identification of structural
defects (Noel et al., 2017) (Oh et al., 2017). It
enhances structural safety and significantly
reduces lifetime operating costs by early
detection of defects for maintenance. Data
resulting from deploying sensors could also
be used for design optimisation, retrofitting
and replacement of structures. Dense arrays
of sensors which were used to monitor
structures at the initial stages of
development of such SHM systems were
very expensive and non-versatile. In
contrast, wireless SHM offer attractive
features such as the capacity for real-time
processing, low cost, ease of installation
with lesser spatial requirements, with a
performance similar to that of wired sensing
systems (Kim et al., 2006). However, such
wireless sensor networks with efficient
networking protocols which consumes less
power and cover large area are still at a
developing stage.
Wireless sensor networks are preferred over
traditional tethered monitoring systems due
to its ability to communicate with peer
nodes over long distances. Traditionally,
many protocols such as Wi-Fi and Zig-Bee
were used for this purpose. Wi-Fi is proven
to be better for distances lesser than 75 m,
with proper antenna for sufficient boost of
the signals, while ZigBee is an IEEE
802.15.4-based specification for a suite of
high-level communication protocols used to
create personal area networks with low
power consumption. Zig-Bee was also used
in wireless sensor networks with lower
frequencies (868 MHz) in USA and
Australia which has a higher range
compared to those with high frequencies.
However, most of the other countries use
ZigBee with a frequency of 2.4 GHz which
is inefficient for long range applications.
For overcoming the main disadvantage of
Zig-Bee – the use of proprietary protocols
which restricts its versatility by making
several requirements mandatory, Sub-
Gigahertz technology is an ideal choice.
With its applicability in wireless
applications requiring long range and low
power consumption, narrowband
transmissions can transmit data to distant
hubs, often 1 km-1.6 km in the space
without obstructions and without hopping –
‘hop’ being a location or a path in between
the node which transmits the signal and the
node which receives the signal. When it
comes to communication between nodes,
fewer hops lead to greater efficiency. Sub-
Gigahertz communication technology can
be used to eliminate most of the hops,
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