Structural Health Monitoring with Wireless Sensor Networks

Nowadays sustainability for both old and new buildings becomes more and more important. Therefore non-destructive test methods are of high interest. Non-destructive test methods are used for quality control of construction materials, inspection and analysis of materials or structures and are used for continuous monitoring of large constructions. A multitude of characteristic values of building structures is measured with conventional wired sensor systems nowadays, e.g. moisture, temperature and stress, strain or displacement under static or dynamic load. Modal analysis or acoustic emission analysis is used to characterize the condition of the structure. In the future non-destructive test methods in combination with structural health monitoring techniques will help to better understand the structural behaviour and to better predict the remaining lifetime.