Smart Sensor Technology and Infrastructure Safety

Abstract

Sensor technology has become an attractive tool to facilitate remote and continues health monitoring of cities infrastructure. In this study, a passive Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) system of low radio frequency band was configured for monitoring scour of bridge foundations. The performance of the RFID system was evaluated through a laboratory study to determine the maximum detection range of the system in terms of transponder orientation, housing material and maximum antenna-transponder detection distance. Analysis of the experimental results showed that the maximum antenna-particle detection distance was 0.73 m when the transponder is perpendicular to the antenna. Glass material provided better housing (cover) for the transponder when compared to material made of concrete-tungsten. It was also found that the maximum detection distance of the antenna did not change significantly for the buried particles when compared to the particles tested in the air. Thus, the low frequency RFID system is appropriate for monitoring bridge scour because its waves can penetrate water and sand bodies without significant loss of its signal strength. The pier model experiments showed that the RFID system was able to predict successfully the maximum scour depth when a single particle was used near a pier model where the scour-hole was expected.