Structural Health Monitoring (SHM): A Comprehensive Overview
Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the continuous or periodic assessment of the condition of engineering structures. These structures include bridges, buildings, aircraft, pipelines, wind turbines, and other critical infrastructure. The goal of SHM is to detect damage early, ensure safety, optimize maintenance, and extend the service life of assets. 1. Concept and Definition At its core, SHM is the process of implementing a damage detection and characterization strategy for structures. It integrates sensing systems, data acquisition, signal processing, and decision-making algorithms to evaluate structural integrity in real time or near real time. SHM can be understood through four fundamental questions: Is damage present? Where is the damage located? What is the severity of the damage? What is the remaining useful life (RUL)? 2. Motivation and Importance Modern infrastructure is aging, while demands o...