structuremeters

Structuremeters are instruments or integrated systems designed to measure physical properties of engineered structures to assess performance, safety, and integrity. They are used in civil, aerospace, marine, and mechanical domains to monitor conditions over time or in real time.

Common measurements include strain, displacement or deflection, tilt, vibration characteristics, acceleration, temperature, and load. Measurements are obtained through sensors such as strain gauges, fiber optic sensors, including fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, accelerometers, linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs), laser displacement sensors, GNSS-based displacement, and tilt sensors.

Structuremeters can be standalone instruments or part of a structural health monitoring (SHM) system, often deployed as wireless sensor networks for long-term data collection. Data are used to calibrate models, detect anomalies, predict remaining service life, and trigger maintenance.

Applications include monitoring of bridges, buildings, wind turbines, offshore platforms, aircraft, pipelines, and historic structures. Challenges include sensor placement, environmental and thermal effects, power management, data management, and ensuring calibration and certification to relevant standards.

The term structuremeter is sometimes used generically to refer to SHM devices or proprietary measurement systems, and it overlaps with terms like structural health monitoring, structural sensing, and asset monitoring.