A coupling member for coupling a solidified body and a structural member includes a sensor part that is capable of measuring physical variation resulting from external force and is for detecting information that will help determine whether there is an abnormality in the solidified body and/or structural member. The coupling member has an embedded part at one end that is embedded in the solidified body and/or ground and has a fixing part that is on the side of the other end extending outside of the solidified body and is capable of fixing the structural member.

Embodiments herein provide a system (100) to estimate the amplitude of oscillations in a turbulent flow system (102) that exhibits oscillatory instabilities. The system (100) comprises of a sensor (102A) mounted on the turbulent flow system (102) to detect an oscillatory variable in the system obtaining a signal, a signal conditioner (104) that conditions the signal from the sensor, an amplitude estimator (110) that estimates the amplitude of the limit cycle oscillations, and also predict the proximity of the system to the oscillatory instability, a processor (108) connected to the amplitude estimator (110) to compare the predicted oscillation amplitude with a threshold value. The amplitude is estimated by estimating the spectral measure of the time series signal obtained from the system.

Provided are a surface stress sensor that enables deterioration in measurement precision to be suppressed and a method for manufacturing the same. A surface stress sensor includes: a membrane configured to be bent by applied surface stress; a frame member configured to surround the membrane with gaps interposed therebetween when viewed from the thickness direction of the membrane; at least a pair of coupling portions configured to couple the membrane and the frame member; a flexible resistor configured to be disposed on at least one of the coupling portions and have a resistance value that changes according to bending induced in the coupling portion; and a support base member configured to be connected to the frame member and overlap the frame member when viewed from the thickness direction of the membrane, in which a cavity portion is disposed between the membrane and the support base member.

A system and method of monitoring a tubular structure is provided. The method includes: a) sensing one or more parameters relating to the tubular structure at spaced apart positions along the length of the tubular structure using a sensor module array having a plurality of sensor modules disposed in a cable attached to the tubular structure, the plurality of sensor modules producing communication signals representative of the sensed parameter at each position along the length of the tubular structure; and b) using a control unit to communicate with the sensor modules in the array, including receiving communication signals representative of the sensed parameter at each position along the length of the tubular structure, and processing the communications signals to produce information relating to the sensed parameter at the positions along the length of the tubular structure.

A flight imaging system and a method suitable where an unmanned flying object equipped with a visible camera and millimeter-wave radar is used, and a structure imaged by the visible camera and millimeter-wave radar mounted on the unmanned flying object are provided. A drone constituting the flight imaging system is equipped with a visible camera and a millimeter-wave radar. A processor of the drone performs control of the visible camera to capture a visible image of a surface layer of the structure, and control the millimeter-wave radar to transmit a millimeter wave toward the structure and receive a reflected wave of the millimeter wave from the structure, in a case of imaging the structure. During flight of the drone, the altitude of the drone is measured by an altitude meter mounted on the drone, altitude information indicating the measured altitude is acquired, and is used, in flying the drone.

A method and system for identifying a cavity position of a structure based on global search includes: step 1: using a structure requiring cavity position identification as a target area, arranging acoustic emission sensors at key positions of the target area, and acquiring actual travel time of signals between the acoustic emission sensors on site; step 2: constructing cavity models for the target area; and for each cavity model, tracking shortest paths of signal propagation between the acoustic emission sensors when each cavity model exists in the target area, to obtain theoretical travel time of the signals; and step 3: respectively calculating deviations between the theoretical travel time and the actual travel time of the signals between the acoustic emission sensors corresponding to each cavity model, and using a position of a cavity model corresponding to a minimum deviation as an identified cavity position in the target area.

The invention relates to a portable device for measuring vertical rail measurements under service to record and report excessive vertical rail movement to prevent a train from derailing. The device may be pivoting with a tilt sensor and light-weight. The device may include a microprocessor, sensors, and a display. The device may be installed on the rail. The device may sense an approaching train, automatically turn on the device, and measure the real-time vertical displacement and the maximum/minimum vertical movement of the rail while the train is operating over the rail at all speeds.

The invention discloses a method and a system for predicting the corrosion fatigue life of prestressed concrete bridges. A corrosion level of the strand is predicted to obtain the residual tension force of a structure. A stress concentration factor is integrated to consider the stress concentration effect caused by pitting corrosion, and a growth model of the elastic stress of the strand under the coupled effect of corrosion and fatigue is proposed. A growth model of the plastic stress of the strand is established using a cross-section loss of the strand as a fatigue damage parameter based on a degenerated elastic modulus of the concrete after fatigue. Failure criteria for the concrete, the strand, and a longitudinal tension bar are defined, so that a set of methods for analyzing the life of a prestressed concrete bridge subjected to corrosive environment and fatigue load are formed.

A method to assess the integrity of a structure is provided and comprises the steps of: i) applying a sinusoidally varying force to the structure at a frequency or frequencies below the lowest frequency that could cause resonance in the structure whereby to set up a dynamic response dominated by the stiffness of the structure; and ii) monitoring the dynamic response of the structure. A device to assess the integrity of a structure is also provided.

A device (10) for monitoring strain of an elongate member (12) is deployed underwater. The device (10) comprises a first clamp (14) configured to embrace and couple to the elongate member (12) at a first axial location, a second clamp (16) configured to embrace and couple to the elongate member at a second axial location separated from the first axial location, and a sensor which is responsive to an angle between the first clamp and the second clamp.