The Potential of Coherent Radar to Support the Monitoring of the Health State of Buildings

The investigation here described is aimed at evaluating the actual capability of a Real Aperture Radar (RAR) interferometer to detect the natural vibration of urban buildings solely solicited by wind or environmental noise. The paper shortly reviews some of the most relevant non-contacting measurement techniques that can be employed for ambient vibration testing. Then it introduces the proposed RAR measurement technique. Some experimental results taken from a wide set of observations, carried out through a microwave sensor presently available on the market, are discussed. The main factors affecting the measurability of the vibration amplitude and frequency are singled out. The technique is proved to perform high sensitivity displacement measurements, down to a few microns.

[1]  Hani Nassif,et al.  Comparison of laser Doppler vibrometer with contact sensors for monitoring bridge deflection and vibration , 2005 .

[2]  J M W Brownjohn,et al.  Structural health monitoring of civil infrastructure , 2007, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

[3]  Carmelo Gentile,et al.  A software tool for processing the displacement time series extracted from raw radar data , 2010 .

[4]  P. Welch.  The use of fast Fourier transform for the estimation of power spectra: A method based on time averaging over short, modified periodograms , 1967 .

[5]  Carlo Atzeni,et al.  Remote Survey of the Leaning Tower of Pisa by Interferometric Sensing , 2010, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

[6]  B. Naticchia,et al.  RECENT PROGRESS IN DIAGNOSTICS OF CIVIL STRUCTURES BY LASER VIBROMETRY , 2004 .

[7]  Damian Beben.  Application of the interferometric radar for dynamic tests of corrugated steel plate (CSP) culvert , 2011 .

[8]  Carlo Atzeni,et al.  A microwave radar technique for dynamic testing of large structures , 2003 .

[9]  L. Ge,et al.  Preliminary evaluation of precise inclination sensor and GPS for monitoring full-scale dynamic response of a tall reinforced concrete building , 2010 .

[10]  M. Crosetto,et al.  Generation of Advanced ERS and Envisat Interferometric SAR Products Using the Stable Point Network Technique , 2008 .

[11]  R. B. Testa,et al.  Modal Analysis for Damage Detection in Structures , 1991 .

[12]  Dario Tarchi,et al.  Monitoring of Structural Changes by Radar Interferometry , 1997 .

[13]  Keith Worden,et al.  An introduction to structural health monitoring , 2007, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

[14]  Carlo Atzeni,et al.  Experimental utilization of interferometric radar techniques for structural monitoring , 2008 .

[15]  Carlo Atzeni,et al.  Dynamic Monitoring of Bridges Using a High-Speed Coherent Radar , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[16]  Michele Crosetto,et al.  Evaluation des caractéristiques modales d'un bâtiment par des mesures radar et de bruit de fond sismique , 2011 .

[17]  Charles R. Farrar,et al.  MICROWAVE INTERFEROMETERS FOR NON-CONTACT VIBRATION MEASUREMENTS ON LARGE STRUCTURES , 1999 .

[18]  Anand Asundi,et al.  Dynamic photoelasticity using TDI imaging , 2002 .

[19]  Richard K. Moore,et al.  Radar remote sensing and surface scattering and emission theory , 1986 .

[20]  Carlo Atzeni,et al.  Interferometric radar vs. accelerometer for dynamic monitoring of large structures: An experimental comparison , 2008 .