Instrumentation

of Structures
Carlos E. Ventura, P.Eng.
D
Department off Ci
Civilil E
Engineering
i i
The University of British Columbia

ventura@civil.ubc.ca
GOALS

Requirements modern instrumentation, communication,

application software and display methods to:

REDUCE
RESPONSE TIME

ASSESS/
IMPROVE
DESIGNS MONITOR
STRUCTURAL
HEALTH

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Structural Performance
 Displacement
Time-History
 Drift Ratio
 Damage Condition
 Post-Earthquake
Assessment
 Building Occupancy
Resumption
p
Program – BORP

Displacement
p Time-Historyy (FEMA
( 274))
Mehmet Celebi, et.al. Real-Time Seismic Monitoring Needs of a Building
Owner and the Solution

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Instrumentation

Simply having knowledge of the structure’s end state and

sparse measurements will not allow one to uniquely define
the damage evolution
Sensor types
 Acceleration
 Displacement
 Wind
 Temperature
 St i
Strain
 Tilt/deflection
 Diff
Differential
ti l GPS
 Other
 Bridge instrumentation
PYLON,
TOP

12 ACCELEROMETERS
1 TEMPERATURE BANGKOK
3 WIND SIDE

BACK
SPAN
6-BCE
PYLON, DECK LEVEL

MIDSPAN
QUARTER SPAN
35-BCE, and 35-BUB
25-BCE and 25-BUB

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Building Instrumentation Schemes
Dam Instrumentation
“real time” monitoring systems
For Critical Structures and Vital
Lifeline Applications
Functions
 In-situ and remote, real-time alerting using on-
screen imaging, light and audible alarms
 Data acquisition as a high dynamic range
accelerograph
 Remote control and display of system functions
 Long-term
Long term health monitoring

Key elements
Highly flexible
Expandable through networking
High resolution
Continuous data transmission and display

Pictured here is OASIS using Q330 ’s

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Ciudad Real

On-line Alerting of Structural Integrity and Safety for post Earthquake Building Occupancy Resumption Assessment
Functions
 IIn-situ
it andd remote,
t real-time
l ti alerting
l ti
using on-screen imaging, light and
audible alarms
 Data acquisition as a high dynamic
range accelerograph
 Remote control and display of system
functions
 Long-term health monitoring

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Monitoring Software
 Data Collection and Computation of Velocity,
Velocity
Displacement, Drift and Response Spectra
from Acceleration Data
 Real-time Monitoring, Display & Alerting
based on user-selectable drift ratios,
including
g the display
p y of the structure with
color-coded alarm/alert levels
 Remote Command/Control of Sensor & Data
Acquisition through TCP/IP
 Execution of User-supplied Windows
Executable (or batch file) for further analysis
 And more…
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Visual Monitoring

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Project Brief:
Namhae Great Bridge
Suspension Bridge: All structural steel deck and towers

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Namahe: Sensor Locations
South Side North Side ACCEL
S S S S S S S S STRAIN
A E
S S WIND
F
B DISPL
C
east
D east
G
west
west

C
L

EC D B A G F

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Project Brief:
Cape Girardeau Bridge, MO

DAQ Block 1 DAQ Block 2

Wireless
IP
Cloud

Central Recording
System

Instrumentation
Di iti i
Digitizing &R
Recording:
di 84 Acceleration
l Channels:
h l
 2 Acquisition Blocks  42 Uniaxial Acc. ES-U
 Central Recording System  7 Triaxial Acc. ES-T
 7 Triaxial Borehole Acc.
Acc ES
ES-SBH
SBH

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 Project Brief: Wells Fargo Bank
Buildings - San Francisco, CA

420 Montgomery St Building

Two 21-Channel DAQ
One Monitoring System

155 5th St Building

One 31-Channel DAQ
One Monitoring System

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Building Graphics – 5th Street

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Waveforms – 5th Street

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Recorded Files (1)

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Recorded Files (2)

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E-mailed Alerts

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Project Brief: Caltrans District 4 HQ
Building - Oakland, CA
System
S t Summary
S
 36 Acceleration Channels in uniaxial,
bi i l & triaxial
biaxial t i i ld deployments
l t
 Data Acquisition System
 Monitoring & Alarm System

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Project Brief: : UNAM, Mexico
Portable Monitoring System
System
S t Summary
S
 26 Accelerometers, uniaxial & triaxial
 4 6-Channel Data Acquisition
Systems
 Data Concentrator System
 Wireless Communication 2.4 GHz

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Structural Health Monitoring
Global Damage Detection:
Pre and post event
evaluation

Before Event Data After Event Data

Damage Detection
Database: Process New Information:
Modes and Frequencies Modes and Frequencies
Mass and Stiffness Mass and Stiffness
FEM FEM
Loads Loads
Deflections
fl Deflections
fl
Condition Assessment
Damage Detection Process
‘The
The four levels
levels’

1) Is the system damaged? – Identify

2) Where is the damage located? –

Locate

3) What type of damage is present? –

Quantify
4) What is the extent of damage? –
Prognosis Life Span
Prognosis,
Real-time Damage Detection
 Real-time: information about the structure is
made available as it happens; this includes the
measurement, transfer, processing,
interpretation and delivery to the relevant
parties
 Damage: strictly speaking, damage refers to
an undesirable
d i bl change
h in
i the
th characteristics
h t i ti off
a structure; usually refers to post-disaster
effects due to earthquakes and possibly
h i
hurricanes
 Detection: the ability to identify, locate,
quantify
q y the damage;
g ; ultimately
y the remaining
g
life of the structure can be determined
State of Damage Detection
Technology
 There are many algorithms that have been developed; to
date none have apparently been ready to apply directly
to structure: too ambitious?
 Some are starting g to be used in a more conservative
form: combining them appears to be effective; more
sensors and better processing of data = better results
 Cheaper sensors and wireless: easier deployment of
monitoring
it i ttechnology
h l
 Cooperation of organizations including Universities,
industry and government results in better development
of SHM technology
 Future: SHM technology is beginning to appear as an
application for high-tech, smarter structures
 The final system must be a synthesis of technologies –
hardware, software and engineering knowledge
The Future?

Data
Interrogation
Structural Damage
Health Prognosis
Monitoring

Sensing and Predictive

Processing Modeling
Hardware

Model Validation &

Uncertainty
Quantification
Thank you