Novel Means and Ways of Getting Structural Health Monitoring into Application

Abstract

Research and development of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) has been around for decades now. However, with so much effort performed in the past, much more SHM application would have been expected. Reasons for this situation are various but one is certainly the diversity of subjects and topics in which SHM plays a role and vice versa. A way on how to grasp the diversity in SHM and to get it focused to some degree is to get the application of SHM to be shown based on demonstrators. SHM demonstrators is not something new. However, what often happens to those demonstrators is, that they are not used once the project they have been funded from has been completed. In addition to this, the demonstration usually turns up during the end of a project and this maybe even happening in a rush. This short period of time does often not even allow the outcome of the demonstrators to be sufficiently communicated with the true potential applicants, which may be an industry allowing the SHM technology to be commercialized. An initiative has therefore been started out of Germany recently with international participation from Greece, Poland, South Korea and the USA, where available SHM demonstrators are extended in their use, such that data obtained from those can be shared with an international community or data can be generated, validated and disseminated with any SHM technology potential applicants want to get linked to the demonstrator with. So far 14 potential demonstrators ranging from aerospace over wind energy to civil engineering and others have been identified. Within this paper the different demonstrators available so far are briefly introduced including their potential with data already available and the options for SHM technology providers, to get their technology applied, validated, and demonstrated in future actions. The network and hence platform for this SHM technology demonstration initiative will be generally opened to the general public and it is intended to demonstrate the application of SHM technology at various future scientific and technology trading events, would this be traditional conferences, symposia, fairs and possibly others.