Instrumentation Monitoring Condition Assessment for Engineers

Training Provided by Global Innovative Campus Description: The use of field instrumentation to monitor the on-site behaviour of structures and equipments is becoming part of many construction projects. Additionally non-destructive testing and evaluation (NDT, NDE) of many in service structures is increasing representing a larger share of the engineering business. Nevertheless, few universities offer a course on instrumentation as part of their engineering curriculum; so many engineers learn instrumentation through the school of hard knocks. The course combines elements from civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering together with some management concepts in a coherent modular format to bring participants up to speed. This continuing education course will fill a void in the education of most engineers. This short course is a comprehensive introduction, to instrumentation, monitoring and Condition Assessment of commercial, industrial, and residential structures. The course will address state of the art monitoring of structures during construction and in service. Planning, design of instrumentation programs, performance of commonly used sensors, data acquisition, signal conditioning, error analysis, information management, and case histories will be addressed in detail. Objective: The objective of this course is to enable participants to employ modern instrumentation and monitoring methods to achieve better project performance. After completing the course participants will become familiar with the various sensors commonly used in civil, structural, geotechnical, construction, mechanical, electrical, and petroleum engineering. The course will also familiarize participants with data acquisition, error analysis, information management, non destructive testing and condition assessment of the structures. By the end of the course, participants will gain the ability to plan and design instrumentation and monitoring programs, and be able to interpret and assess monitoring programs performed by others.

Instrumentation Monitoring Condition Assessment for Engineers Program Outline (12 PDH)
Day I: Sensors
Strain Measurements

Field and laboratory applications

Vibrating wire (vw) strain gages

Electrical resistance strain gages

Selection and Installation process
Measurement of Load

Operating Principals of commercial load cells

Common load cell applications and case histories

Selection and installation

Applications (Piles, Drilled Shafts, Tie Backs etc)
Pressure Measurements

Review of terminology, and Bernoulli s equation

Piezometers


-Applications (geotechnical, environmental, hydraulic)


-Operating Principals


-Installation


-Time lag

Earth pressure cells


-Applications and operating principals


-Installation on structures & in soils
Linear Deformation

Applications

Linear potentiometers, LVDT s, & DCDT s

Borehole extensometers

Slope extensometers

Settlement cells

Surface extensometers
Measurement of Tilt

Principal of operation

Applications

Tiltmeters

Inclinometers

Optical Robotic Theodolites

Case histories
Dynamic Measurements

Accelerometers

Geophones

Applications (Blasting, Pile Driving)
Mechatronic Measurements

Introduction to Mechatronics

Mechatronic Sensors (Light, Temperature, Humidity, Ultrasonic Sensors)

Applications

Day II: Condition Assessment & Information Management
Data Acquisition and Signal Conditioning

Signals and sampling

Signal conditioning

Analog to digital hardware

Power management

Data management
Error Analysis

Statistical basics

Key terms in measurement uncertainty (conformance, accuracy, precision, resolution, sensitivity, range, linearity, hysterisis, noise, drift, & stability)

Bias errors (systematic)


-Maximum error


-Probable error

Precision errors (random)


-Treatment of uncertainties


-Confidence
Condition Assessment

Concrete

Masonary

Steel

Timber

Visual methods

Non-destructive testing and evaluation
Planning of Instrumentation Programs

The observation method

Systematic approach to planning a monitoring program

Execution and case histories


-Monitoring a bridge in Hong Kong


-Instrumentation of a Chicago tunnel


-Monitoring a parking garage in New York City


-Monitoring of excavation beneath a running subway line in New York City

Typical instrumentation layouts

Business aspects

About The Training Provider: Global Innovative Campus