L2M NSERC - Safer infrastructure with digital twinning and structural health monitoring using smart energy harvesting sensors

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According to Canada's 2019 Infrastructure Report, nearly 38% of bridges and tunnels are in fair,poor, or worse condition, costing $50 billion in replacement and maintenance [1]. Around 25%of bridges in the United States are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, requiring $70.9billion in repair and maintenance costs [2]. Repairing, maintaining, and replacing existing andnew structures consumes a significant portion of most developed countries' infrastructurebudgets (35-45% in the UK and 50% in the EU) [3]. As a direct consequence, the need forrefurbishments and monitoring has a significant financial impact.Health monitoring is a technique for assessing and tracking structural integrity and determiningthe nature of deterioration in a structure. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a nondestructivetechnique for detecting and diagnosing damage. SHM involves continuouslymonitoring a system using periodically sampled dynamic reaction measurements from a networkof sensors, extracting damage-sensitive features from these data, and statistically analyzing thesefeatures to determine the system's current state of health. Traditional methods have a number ofdisadvantages, including being time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly, requiring heavyequipment, exposing inspectors to potentially hazardous situations, and being inapplicable toinaccessible but critical areas. The application of smart materials to improve structural behavioris a burgeoning interdisciplinary domain characterized by cutting-edge technology thatencompasses materials and structures, sensor and actuator systems, and information processingand control. Piezoelectric materials are the most common smart materials, and they are used assensors and actuators.