Sensor Networks in Structural Health Monitoring: From Theory to Practice

The intense development of novel data-driven and hybrid methods for structural health monitoring (SHM) has been demonstrated by field deployments on large-scale systems, including transport, wind energy, and building infrastructure. The actionability of SHM as an essential resource for life-cycle and resilience management is heavily dependent on the advent of low-cost and easily deployable sensors Nonetheless, in optimizing these deployments, a number of open issues remain with respect to the sensing side. These are associated with the type, configuration, and eventual processing of the information acquired from these sensors to deliver continuous behavioral signatures of the monitored structures. This book discusses the latest advances in the field of sensor networks for SHM. The focus lies both in active research on the theoretical foundations of optimally deploying and operating sensor networks and in those technological developments that might designate the next generation of sensing solutions targeted for SHM. The included contributions span the complete SHM information chain, from sensor design to configuration, data interpretation, and triggering of reactive action. The featured papers published in this Special Issue offer an overview of the state of the art and further proceed to introduce novel methods and tools. Particular attention is given to the treatment of uncertainty, which inherently describes the sensed information and the behavior of monitored systems.