Recent Advances in Structural Health Monitoring

Emerging sensor-based structural health monitoring (SHM) technology can play an important role in inspecting and securing the safety of aging civil infrastructure, a worldwide problem. However, implementation of SHM in civil infrastructure faces a significant challenge due to the lack of suitable sensors and reliable methods for interpreting sensor data. This paper reviews recent efforts and advances made in addressing this challenge, with example sensor hardware and software developed in the author's research center. It is proposed to integrate real-time continuous monitoring using on structure sensors for global structural integrity evaluation with targeted NDE inspection for local damage assessment.