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. 2022 Jul 30;22(15):5725.
doi: 10.3390/s22155725.

Low-Cost Wireless Structural Health Monitoring of Bridges

Seyedmilad Komarizadehasl  1 , Fidel Lozano  2 , Jose Antonio Lozano-Galant  2 , Gonzalo Ramos  1 , Jose Turmo  1
Affiliations

Low-Cost Wireless Structural Health Monitoring of Bridges

Seyedmilad Komarizadehasl et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Nowadays, low-cost accelerometers are getting more attention from civil engineers to make Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) applications affordable and applicable to a broader range of structures. The present accelerometers based on Arduino or Raspberry Pi technologies in the literature share some of the following drawbacks: (1) high Noise Density (ND), (2) low sampling frequency, (3) not having the Internet's timestamp with microsecond resolution, (4) not being used in experimental eigenfrequency analysis of a flexible and a less-flexible bridge, and (5) synchronization issues. To solve these problems, a new low-cost triaxial accelerometer based on Arduino technology is presented in this work (Low-cost Adaptable Reliable Accelerometer-LARA). Laboratory test results show that LARA has a ND of 51 µg/√Hz, and a frequency sampling speed of 333 Hz. In addition, LARA has been applied to the eigenfrequency analysis of a short-span footbridge and its results are compared with those of a high-precision commercial sensor.

Keywords: Arduino Due; Raspberry Pi; accelerometers; eigenfrequency analysis; low-cost sensors; short-span footbridge.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
LARA elements: (a) the adjustments and wire connections of the sensing part, (b) the sensing and acquisition part, and (c) LARA in detail.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Frequency domain diagrams for z axis of: (a) MPU9250, (b) CHEAP, and (c) LARA.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Frequency domain diagrams of LARA for: (a) z, (b) x, and (c) y-axis.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Laboratory validation of LARA: (a) mounting CHEAP and LARA to the shaking part of the jack, and (b) the used vibrating platform (INSTRON 8803).
Figure 5
Figure 5
FFT representation of the low-frequency signals: (a) 0.1 Hz, (b) 0.2 Hz, (c) 0.3 Hz, and (d) 0.5 Hz.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Displacement report of the jack in a frequency-domain diagram.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Displacement report of the accelerometers: (a) MPU9250, (b) CHEAP, and (c) LARA.
Figure 8
Figure 8
The time-domain presentation of a vibration acquisition with RMS value of one g by LARA.
Figure 9
Figure 9
The time-domain presentation of acceleration amplitude saturation of LARA.
Figure 10
Figure 10
(a) A picture of the pass way, (b) plan of the bridge, and (c) section of the pass way bridge (all units are in mm).
Figure 11
Figure 11
Mounting the sensors to the mid span of the bridge under study: (a) mounting diagram of LARA to the bridge and (b) photo of LARA and HI-INC sensor mounted on a footbridge in Barcelona.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Eigenfrequency analysis of a footbridge using LARA for (a) vertical, (b) longitudinal, and (c) transversal directions of the footbridge.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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