Structural health monitoring of a damaged church: design of an integrated platform of electronic instrumentation, data acquisition and client/server software

Abstract

A practical view is provided on the integration of electronic instrumentation, data acquisition, and software development systems applied to the analysis of pathological structural processes. This system will enable researchers to remotely monitor constructions; compile a register of historical data, creating files for postprocessing; and establish computer-based protocols for evaluation of information, defining automatic alarms when the monitored data exceed preset limit values. This integration is based on the implementation of a remote terminal unit architecture in an industrial PC along with some other elements, namely, the following: suitable data acquisition cards for the type of sensors used, which continuously collect the data the sensors gather; the installation of an application server that periodically communicates with the system, extracting data while guaranteeing persistence; and finally, a web server, which provides remote access to both the data themselves and the system configuration, using a client application developed in JavaFX, a platform for developing rich Internet applications. As an example of the integration, the architecture of a system deployed in a Church in Comillas, Spain, is shown. The work carried out related to the register of existing damage is reported in order to explain the choice of the zones for deployment of the monitoring devices as well as the tasks involved in the installation of the sensors and other devices. Finally, the evolution is presented of the measurements taken during more than 1.5 years of monitoring, as well as their validation through comparison with those obtained by discrete in situ measurement.