Structural health monitoring is a process to monitor large structures like bridges, tunnels, dams, and buildings to detect safety issues or potential failures. It works by installing sensors that measure parameters like strain, tilt, load, cracks, vibrations, movement, and pressure. The sensor data is logged in real-time by data loggers and can be viewed on mobile or web-based interfaces. This allows engineers to monitor the structure's performance, verify its design assumptions, ensure safe construction, and provide early warnings of any issues so preventative action can be taken. Regular monitoring through a structure's lifespan helps maintain safety and extend its working life.

1. A Guideon
Structural Health
Monitoring(SHM)

2. INTRODUCTION
1
WHAT IS MEANT BYSTRUCTURAL
HEALTH MONITORING?
2
WHY IS GEOTECHNICAL
MONITORING IMPORTANT?
3
ADVANTAGESOFSTRUCTURAL
HEALTH MONITORING
4
HOW DOESSTRUCTURAL
HEALTH MONITORING WORK?
5
STRUCTURALHEALTH
MONITORING OF BRIDGES
6
STRUCTURALHEALTH
MONITORING OFTUNNELS
7
STRUCTURALHEALTH
MONITORING OF DAMS
8
STRUCTURALHEALTH
MONITORING OFBUILDINGS
9
STRUCTURALHEALTH MONITORING
OFNUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
10
TABLE OF
CONTENT

3. INTRODUCTION
1
With technological advancements in the field of civil engineering and geotechnical
engineering, the magnificent structures like Burj Khalifa and Gotthard Base Tunnel
have been made possible.
Humans have built large structures like dams, tunnels, skyscrapers, power plants
etc. to make their lifeeasier.
But even a minor failure in these structures can cause loss of property as well as
human life. Hence, regular structural health monitoring is a must.
Let's discuss more on structural health monitoring, geotechnical instrumentation,
and how it makes the world a safer place to live.

4. Structural health monitoring is vital to avoid sudden failures and accidents.
Before proceeding with any construction activity, it's necessary to carry out the
monitoring of the construction site as well as the nearby assets.
2 WHATIS MEANTBY STRUCTURAL HEALTH
MONITORING?

5. Geotechnical instrumentation and monitoring supply quantitative data on the struc-
ture's performance to aid in evaluating its safety and detecting problems at an early
stage.
Structures can fail due to several reasons like design error, geological instability,
poor maintenance, deterioration of construction material, etc.
Structural health monitoring is a process to keep an eye on all the structures and
generate early warnings to avoidmishaps.
Encardio-rite is geotechnical instrumentation and monitoring company that provides
various monitoring services along with state-of-the-art geotechnical instruments.
2 WHATIS MEANTBY STRUCTURAL HEALTH
MONITORING?

6. WHY ISGEOTECHNICAL MONITORING
IMPORTANT?
3
Site investigation
Site investigation is crucial before carrying out any construction activity.

7. WHY ISGEOTECHNICAL MONITORING
IMPORTANT?
3
It is important to check if the land is strong enough to bear the structure. Apart from
this, it's essential to check for the safety of other assets in the vicinity of the con-
struction land.
Several geotechnical Instruments are used to characterize and determine initial site
conditions.
The most common parameters of interest in a site investigation are pore pressure,
the permeability of the soil, slope stability etc.

8. WHY ISGEOTECHNICAL MONITORING
IMPORTANT?
3
Design verification
It's quite important to verify the design of the structure. Improper designing may
lead to its failure.

9. WHY ISGEOTECHNICAL MONITORING
IMPORTANT?
3
Geotechnical instruments are used to verify design assumptions. Instrumentation
data from the initial stage of a project may show the need or provide the opportunity
to modify the design in later stages.
For example, data obtained from reinforcement bar strain meters installed by Encar-
dio-rite at Teesta Barrage in the left embankment led the project authorities to revise
their estimates of the requirement of steel in the right embankment.

10. WHY ISGEOTECHNICAL MONITORING
IMPORTANT?
3
Construction control
Structural monitoring is necessary to help the engineer in determining how fast con-
struction can proceed without adverse effects on the foundation soil and construc-
tion materials used.

11. WHY ISGEOTECHNICAL MONITORING
IMPORTANT?
3
The instruments are installed to monitor the effects of construction.
For example, the temperature rise in concrete due to the heat of hydration was moni-
tored at Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River with Encardio-rite’s temperature
meters to determine the pouring temperature of mass concrete.
By mixing ice flakes, the temperature of the concrete to be poured was brought
down to around15°C.
This resulted in the temperature of the setting concrete not exceeding the critical
29°C, as specified and required by the Central Water and Power Research Station
(CWPRS), Pune.

12. WHY ISGEOTECHNICAL MONITORING
IMPORTANT?
3
Safety
Instruments can provide early warning of impending failure.
Safety monitoring requires quick retrieval, processing, and presentationof
instrument data so that analyses and decisions can be made promptly.
An effective action plan for implementing corrective measures can then be
prepared.

13. Structural health monitoring (SHM) is critical because:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
• It can provide early warning to the concerned authorities so that they can take
actions well before anycasualties.
It keeps a regular check on the health of structures so that sudden failures can be
avoided.
It safeguards human life as well as the loss of property.
It also protects the surrounding structures in the vicinity.
It increases the life span of the structures.
It reduces the long-term and short-term costs related to structural maintenance.
It monitors the performance for safety during the life of the structure.
It evaluates the effect of the operation of the structure on parameters like stress,
strain, water, pressure, inclination, deflection and waterseepage.
It compares the observed data with design assumptions.
It helps with the data to plan and schedule predictive and preventive maintenance
programs for the structure.
4 ADVANTAGES OF STRUCTURAL HEALTH
MONITORING

14. •
• It provides data to determine the effects of natural calamities such as earthquake,
flooding etc. on thestructure.
Compilation of long-term and reliable data on the various elements of the plant
especially foundations, anchoring systems and containmentstructures.
4 ADVANTAGES OF STRUCTURAL HEALTH
MONITORING

15. HOW DOES STRUCTURAL HEALTHMONITORING
WORK?
5
Structural health monitoring requires several geotechnical instrumentsinstallation.
The instruments like strain gauges, piezometers, tilt meters, temperature sensors,
pressure cells, load cells etc. measure the crucial parameters affecting the struc-
tures.
These instruments are installed on dams, tunnels, nuclear power plants, buildings,
monuments to measure the importantparameters.
The measured data is logged in real-time through data loggers and displayed via a
PC/laptop/mobile device at any remotelocation.
The data loggers are capable of generating early warnings such that the concerned
person can take actions accordingly.

16. STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING OF
BRIDGES
6
There are numerous rail and road bridges built across the globe. They are an essen-
tial component of transportation networks and, hence, structural health monitoring
of bridges is crucial.

17. STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING OF
BRIDGES
6
Any damage or collapse of bridges due to their deteriorating performance disrupts
transportation systems and may result in the loss of life as well as property.
The railway bridges are well documented and have a laid down system for checking
and maintenance.
Bridges must function safely at all times. A large number of bridges are quite old
and not designed for the heavier and faster-moving vehicular loads that they are cur-
rently subjected to.

18. STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING OF
BRIDGES
6
Online cloud-based web data monitoringservice
Encardio-rite offers public cloud-based online web data monitoring services for the
safety ofexisting rail and road bridges.
The heart of the online structural monitoring instrumentation system is a web data
monitoring service (WDMS) offered by Encardio-rite. The service forms an important
part of the Bridge ManagementSystem.
It is a web-based data-management and presentation tool for retrieving data from
the sensors through Encardio-rite range of automatic data loggers.
WDMS consists of Drishti, data management software that acts as a data collection
agent, a database server and a web server hosted on a high-reliability server
computer.

19. STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING OF
BRIDGES
6
The host computer periodically collects data from the remote data logger over cell
phone networks.
Users interact with the software using their web-browser when connected to the
Internet.
The only requirement is that the data logger site is covered by a cell phone service
provider who can provide reliable GSM/GPRS enabled cellular data connection
locally.
Multiple authorized users at different locations assigned with an individual
password are allowed to view any data or report from the structure simultaneously.
Graphs & reports can be viewed using popular web browsers like Microsoft internet
explorer or Mozilla Firefox amongstothers.

20. STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING OF
BRIDGES
6
Details like sensor identification tag, last recorded sensor reading and values of pro-
grammed alert levels can be viewed on the first page of the site that shows the loca-
tion of installation.
If anyone of the alarm level exceeds, the sensor location turns to a red dot.
Clicking the pop-up table brings up an associated data window where the sensor
data can be seen either as a table or as a graph.
Site administrators can set alarm limits which are generally considered as “alert
level” and “action level”.
WDMS can also be programmed to send SMS alert messages or e-mail to selected
users as soon as any sensor data crosses its predefined alarm levels, either while
going above or going below the alarm level.

21. STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING OF
BRIDGES
6
Bridge Monitoring InstrumentationScheme
There are two types of instrumentation schemes to monitor the health of the
bridges.
The figure above shows online web based monitoring of surface parameters like tilt,
crack, load, strain, vibrations and subsurface parameters like lateral movement, set-
tlement and piezometric pressure.

22. STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING OF
BRIDGES
6
The above figure shows online web based monitoring of lateral movement and
settlement using robotic total stations and prism targets.

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