Monitoring Precast Structures During Transportation Using A Portable Sensing System

During the delivery process, precast concrete structures (PCS) undergo drastic changes in strain response that could induce damage resulting from the lifting process or shocks during delivery. However, the continuous logging of vibration and strain measurement during the delivery of a PCS remains limited because of difficulties related to sensor installation and condition assessment. This paper presents (1) a multimetric portable sensing system that simultaneously measures strain and acceleration, and (2) a safety assessment strategy that adjusts the offset of the initial strain measurement and calculates the absolute strain response for assessing the safety of PCS during the delivery process. The experimental validation was performed during the 80-min delivery process of a 12-m-long PCS. The acceleration, tilts and strain of the structure were measured during its delivery, and the measured data were processed and analyzed to conduct a safety assessment.