A Wireless Fatigue Monitoring System Utilizing a Bio-Inspired Tree Ring Data Tracking Technique

Sensors

Shi Bai³  Xuan Li²  Zhaohui Xie¹  Zhi Zhou² 

[1] School of Software Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China; E-Mail:;School of Civil Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China; E-Mail:;School of Civil Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China; E-Mails:

关键词: fatigue;    structural health monitoring (SHM);    rain-flow counting method;    data tracking of tree rings;    Digital Signal Processing (DSP);    wireless sensor;    PVDF;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s140304364

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Fatigue, a hot scientific research topic for centuries, can trigger sudden failure of critical structures such as aircraft and railway systems, resulting in enormous casualties as well as economic losses. The fatigue life of certain structures is intrinsically random and few monitoring techniques are capable of tracking the full life-cycle fatigue damage. In this paper, a novel in-situ wireless real-time fatigue monitoring system using a bio-inspired tree ring data tracking technique is proposed. The general framework, methodology, and verification of this intelligent system are discussed in details. The rain-flow counting (RFC) method is adopted as the core algorithm which quantifies fatigue damages, and Digital Signal Processing (DSP) is introduced as the core module for data collection and analysis. Laboratory test results based on strain gauges and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sensors have shown that the developed intelligent system can provide a reliable quick feedback and early warning of fatigue failure. With the merits of low cost, high accuracy and great reliability, the developed wireless fatigue sensing system can be further applied to mechanical engineering, civil infrastructures, transportation systems, aerospace engineering, etc.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.