Strain Gage monitoring of buildings

[WOZnTR]

Is there commercially available strain gage monitoring system such that you can see in the monitor the strain conditions of shear, flexural, moment, axial load of beams and columns by strain gage being distributed in key positions of the concrete elements with wires running to a central computer and display?

 

[MJB315]

I imangine there are many companies that sell the sensors / network to develop a system...but you need to have a clear idea what you need to measure, how, and for how long.

A company in Vermont called Microstrain has developed a system that allows you to connect various sensors wirelessly to a central computer / box and has a system called "Sensor Cloud" that allows you to view the data remotely. It's pretty neat. Again, you need to provide them with the design (how many sensors, what kind, how are they powered, etc.).

http://www.microstrain.com/

"We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us." -WSC

 

[dik]

YOu may want to look into Zigby for data transmission... much lower power if you need it for an extended period of time.

Dik

 

[dik]

That should be Zigbee...

Dik

 

[GeoPaveTraffic]

There are many companies that make sensors to do what you are describing. The real challenge is in selecting the correct hardware and software to accomplish your goals and answer the necessary questions. All instrumentation should be designed to answer a specific question or a group of questions.

There are relatively few companies that do much instrumentation work. Very few owners are willing to expend the money required for these types of systems.

The company I work for has been providing geotechnical and some structural insturmentation services for over 50 years. There are other companies and some of the sensor makers do some design and installation.

Mike Lambert

 

[Ron]

As others have noted, there are many ways to do this...
I don't know of any "system" that gives anyone all the things they want to know about a structure at any given location...that means you have to build your own component system to respond with the information you want or need. That's not as difficult as it might seem. There are companies that can supply the pieces and parts for you to assemble to best fill your needs. Keithley Instruments, Omega and MicroMeasurements are companies that I have used pieces and parts to create a monitoring system for what I needed. I have created 4, 8, 16 and 32 channel systems that would monitor a variety of stresses and strains in different applications, both static and dynamic.

One advantage of creating your own system is that you know exactly how it works and what information it returns. No guesswork.