CGM Engineering’s structural health monitoring (SHM) solution has been selected by the China Earthquake Administration to aid engineers in conducting structural health research on seven key megastructures.
The SHM solution is based on the National Instruments LabVIEW graphical system design platform and uses NI CompactRIO programmable automation controllers.
The seven buildings to be monitored include both the main venues for the 2008 Summer Olympics – the Beijing National Stadium and the National Aquatics Centre.
According to CGM Engineering, the solution monitors structural health characteristics such as stability, reliability and liveability in real time using computing, sensor and communications technology.
The system captures the vibrational signatures of structures and detects sudden shifts of structural characteristics. This can reduce the loss of life and property arising from catastrophic events such as earthquakes, hurricanes and fires.
The nine 64-channel and two 36-channel SHM systems each contain multiple CompactRIO controllers that directly connect to accelerometers for vibration measurements and an external GPS receiver for inter-chassis synchronization.
A LabVIEW FPGA Module within each chassis is used to synchronize each measurement channel to within 10 microseconds of the GPS-disciplined clock. It is also used to program user-configurable filtering to prevent unwanted noise from interfering with the low-frequency measurements being acquired.
The SHM system performs continuous, real-time monitoring at each location, and engineers can remotely access the locally stored data from anywhere in the world via secure Internet connections. Engineers can also configure the systems to send e-mail notifications when events occur.

0 comments Leave a comment