Sensing Sheet for High-Resolution Structural Health Monitoring over Large Civil Engineering Structures

Web Published:
4/11/2012
Description:

Princeton Docket # 12-2744

 

Civil infrastructure in the U.S. is aging and has been identified as an area of critical need.  Many bridges of great importance are approaching the end of their life span.  It is necessary to determine and monitor their structural health in order to mitigate risks, prevent disasters, and plan maintenance activities in an optimized manner.  The need for reliable, robust, and low-cost Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is thus rapidly increasing.  In spite of its great potential, SHM is not applied in a widespread or systematic manner.  The main reason for this is the lack of generic monitoring solutions that are reliable and affordable.  The sensors currently available must be sparsely spaced and either provide severely insufficient spatial-resolution for early damage detection or rely on complex algorithms that degrade specificity against environmental and variable-load conditions.

 

Researchers at Princeton University have developed and tested a novel sensing technology for direct damage detection over large areas.  The sensing sheet contains dense arrays of sensors based on large-area electronics and integrated circuits.  This enables measurement of two-dimensional strain field with high-spatial resolution over large parts of the structure.  Such measurement is extremely robust to stray environmental interferences, thus providing a unique mode to reliably assess the condition of practical, in-use structures.  Additionally, the technology enables embedded processing and analysis of the sensed data so that only critical and on-demand information may be transmitted to human supervisors.  With distinct reliability, robustness, and low cost, this novel sensing technology holds the potential to transform SHM, vastly improving safety and reduce maintenance and life-cycle costs for civil infrastructure.

 

Applications        

·        SHM of large civil engineering structures

·        SHM of aerospace structures

·        SHM of military structures

 

Advantages         

·        Reliable

·        Robust

·        Low cost

·        High resolution

 

Inventors

Banko Gli¿ić is Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering.  His research interests include Structural Health Monitoring (SHM), SHM data management and analysis, advanced sensing technologies, and structural analysis and smart structures.  Professor Glisic has won the first place in the Princeton University 7th Annual Innovation Forum (2012), and recognition for outstanding contribution by ISHMII with the JMBT Structures Research Inc. Award for Best Paper in SHM Applications at SHMII 3rd International Conference (2007).

 

Naveen Verma is Assistant Professor of Electric Engineering.  His research focuses on analog and digital integrated circuits. The emphasis is on developing system platforms for emerging applications, especially where considerable computation and instrumentation is required but energy is severely constrained.  Professor Verma is co-recipient of 2008 ISSCC Jack Kilby Award for Outstanding Student Paper, and 2006 DAC/ISSCC Student Design Contest Award. During his doctoral research in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he was an Intel Foundation Ph.D. Fellow and an NSERC Fellow.

 

Intellectual Property status

Patent protection is pending.

Patent Information:
For Information, Contact:
Chris Wright
Licensing Associate
Princeton University
cw20@princeton.edu
Inventors:
Branko Glisic
Naveen Verma
Keywords:
civil engineering
Opto-Electronics/ELE ENG