Study on Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) applications

Load is identified as a harmful parameter to any structural components when its limits are exceeded. The ability to identify and monitor load along with its related parameters (i.e. bending stress, tensile stress etc.) is important in many engineering industries, especially the aerospace, civil and mechanical (ACM) industries. If the existing load acting on a structure goes undetected and begins to increase in magnitude, it might result in structural failure. Traditional non-destructive evaluative techniques can assist engineers and scientists to identify such hazard, however, they tend to be time consuming as they require a great deal of manpower and planning. This leads to the rise of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM).The use of piezoceramics sensor in SHM has been of great research interest in the field of SHM, especially in detecting and monitoring of damages in engineering components or structures using lamb wave techniques. In this study, monitoring of load using lamb wave techniques is investigated by using two surface bonded Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) sensors. Subsequently, an investigation study would be conducted on using magnets as an alternative of surface mounting for lamb wave techniques. This would be followed by a feasibility study on whether magnetic sensors are effective for load monitoring using lamb wave technique.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering