Wireless monitoring of reinforced concrete structures

The use of wireless sensor systems for monitoring concrete structures in civil engineering is reviewed. Applications of monitoring systems already in use are described and analysis methods that are applicable to improve informative values in terms of serviceability, safety and remaining lifetime are identified. In addition to the fundamental concepts of wireless monitoring, further requirements and design steps for wireless monitoring systems are discussed. For structural health monitoring, it is not sufficient to focus on hardware solutions alone. It is the data processing that defines the benefit for the user (e.g. remaining lifetime, load-bearing capacity, serviceability). Data reduction, data analysis and data interpretation methods are essential to enable engineers to use more precisely information for structural analysis and repair, lifetime prediction, and maintenance. Some approaches to distributed computing strategies are described with respect to the limitations of wireless monitoring systems and areas requiring further research are identified.