Intelligent Structures 2

Construction is the largest industry in the world, yet technology to monitor and maintain the health of building and structural systems under natural and man-made loadings has only just begun to receive the attention that it deserves. Real time sensing, monitoring and control of structural systems is now feasible, made possible by recent developments in analytical and numerical modelling, and new technologies and hardware. The Intelligent Systems Workshop was held to promote information exchange, research co-operation and introduction of new ideas and concepts. Investigators from the US, Italy, Japan and other Western European countries gave presentations and participated in group discussions. The book covers the following new areas for further development in the utility and serviceability of structural systems: non-destructive tests to assess the state of damage caused by natural forces such as earthquake and wind; improvement of passive, active and hybrid devices used to suppress excessive structural vibration under seismic and wind conditions; development of knowledge-based systems and a neural network that can be trained to perform more effectively on structure control; application of more advanced sensor devices, often loaded in a mobile laboratory, for timely information gathering; and development of intelligent materials, buildings, tunnels, and highway bridges with capacity to detect negative internal changes in performance due to earthquakes, extreme winds and other natural hazard conditions. As the modern world begins to depend more and more on development in high technology this book will help ensure that structural engineering benefits significantly.