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.