Overview
Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) comprises systems and processes to track and present performance of structural systems over time and detect and diagnose performance anomalies due to changes in material and/or geometric properties, boundary conditions and structural loading. There is a growing need for structural health/performance information due to increased loading, a shift of funding from construction to maintenance as structures age, reduced tolerance to and more severe consequences of unsatisfactory performance and potential saving of life.
The applicant has 20 years’ experience in full-scale measurements and diagnosis of structural performance and a portfolio of operational SHM systems and datasets in Singapore, plus software tools for mining and health diagnosis. One project objective is to integrate, through study visits, the applicant into SHM research activities within EU and to contribute by way of experience and access to data and information from ongoing monitoring exercises in Singapore. Personal interaction, swapping of data sets and procedures and independent analyses of data is an established way for promoting collaboration.
A second objective, to enhance the value of the visits, is to use a post-doc researcher to develop, and package in a software suite, an enhanced set of tools for managing and mining the data sets and presenting information. The applicant is returning to the country of his nationality after gaining 12 years’ experience in SHM in Singapore. The project aims to retain the benefits of this experience and maximise its impact within the EU research community so as to enhance both the applicant's career and EU SHM activities.
The objectives fit those of the ERA i.e. developing research infrastructures in Europe, enhancing networking and excellence, and in the context of FP6, contributing to a more coherent research landscape within Europe. The project is in a FP6 thematic priority of sustainable development.