Structure health monitoring system based on virtual instrument and network

Structure health monitoring system is very important for the safe operation and scientific management of great structures and it is the focus of research in recent years. The key of health monitoring system is to monitor the whole behavior of the structure in real-time and to evaluate the state of the structure intelligently. High-speed and mass data acquisition, remote control and transfer, data and information share through web are required in such monitoring systems. According to the actual monitoring requirements of a steel bridge, a remote health monitoring system ( RHMS) based on virtual instrument and TCP/IP is developed. Being installed in the field for about three years, the system fulfils the expectant goals very well. The design of the whole system, the performance of software and hardware, the functions of the system and some measured results from the monitoring spot are introduced in detail in this paper. Key techniques to build the health monitoring system, such as automation monitoring, system reliability, massive monitoring data analysis and processing, data communication etc., are also discussed.