Collocation of Sensing, Computing, and Actuation in Low-Power Wireless Nodesfor Smart Structure Applications in Civil and Mechanical Systems.

[摘要] Effective management of civil structures requires both data and a physical means tomitigate the negative consequences of the effects of extreme loading events. This thesispresents a smart structure framework characterized by low-cost wireless nodes withcollocated sensing, computing, and actuation capabilities. These nodes are intended tofunction as an automated first line of defense during extreme loading events, providingboth rapid assessment of structural condition (i.e., health) and automated response (i.e.,control). Low-cost wireless sensing and actuation nodes promote dense instrumentationsthat can provide great insight into the dynamic behavior and condition of structures.However, wireless networks should not be viewed merely as one-to-one replacements fortraditional tethered systems. Rather, the goal of this thesis is to demonstrate theembedment of computationally expedient approaches for traditional smart structure tasks(i.e., load estimation, structural health monitoring, and structural control) implementedwithin wireless sensor and actuation networks. The distributed nature of these computingresources, coupled with limitations on power and communication bandwidth, requireunique decentralized data processing algorithms that can operate effectively within thedecentralized wireless smart structure environment. To accomplish this goal, this thesisfirst presents the development and validation of a novel wireless sensing and actuationplatform necessary to meet the specific requirements of this thesis work. Then, using thiswireless system, a method for estimating wind loading from measured wind turbine towerresponse is experimentally validated. This method can generate reference loading datathat may be used to improve the design economy of future turbines. In addition, awireless structural health monitoring method based on a physical parameterization oftime-series model coefficients is presented for damage detection in post-earthquakescenarios. This method employs a physics-based method of evaluating and integratingdamage indications derived from individual sensors within the network. Finally, apartially-decentralized method for wireless structural control is presented in which thewireless network dynamically trades bandwidth for performance of actuators engaged infeedback control. This method provides a means to allocate scarce bandwidth resourceswhile still allowing the wireless controllers to improve performance by identifying andbroadcasting only the most valuable feedback data over the network.

[发布机构] University of Michigan

[效力级别] Wireless Sensing

[关键词] Smart Structures;Wireless Sensing;Wireless Structural Control;Embedded Processing;Load Estimation;Structural Health Monitoring;Civil and Environmental Engineering;Engineering;Civil Engineering