International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring; Stanford, California; September 1-3, 2015

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is an emerging technology that may provide real-time information about the "health" state of the structures anywhere and anytime in order to maximize their performance and prolong the lifespan during the operation. This technology increases significantly the "awareness" of the operators in real time on the integrity of the structures that may encounter various harsh environments in actual operation conditions, and hence, could lead to the development of advanced mitigation techniques to avoid structural catastrophes. The state awareness is the key element for safety, reliability and security of national aerospace, civil, mechanical and power infrastructure platforms. Structural health monitoring would not only allow users to access the condition of their assets remotely and instantly, particularly after unexpected events such as earthquakes, but also make the users to maintain their assets more efficiently and economically. The fundamental building blocks in the development of SHM capability are data collection and interpretation. Structural health monitoring techniques use built-in sensors to collect data and create diagnostic methods to interpret the relationship between the data and the change in the structure. Recent advances in networked sensor technology and "big data" science provides significant opportunities to further advance the science and technology in diagnostics and prognostics for detection and monitoring of the health of structures. The 10th International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring 2015 will identify research needs and seek a consensus among experts from industry, government, and academia to develop an SHM roadmap spanning across various industry platforms. The general impact of SHM technologies is essential in sustaining the health functions and in maintaining the structural integrity of national transportation systems, defense, civil infrastructures, and other industrial sectors. The workshop will assess the state-of-the-art in the field of SHM; identify and discuss key and emerging issues that are critical; promote exchanges and cross-fertilization from researchers, students, engineers and practitioners among many disciplines; and establish a panel consisting of thought leaders from government, academe, and industry to develop a document for guiding the directions of R&D in SHM for both the near and long term.