International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation
REAL-TIME STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING FOR
CONCRETE BEAMS: A COST-EFFECTIVE ‘INDUSTRY 4.0’
SOLUTION USING PIEZO SENSORS
Journal:
International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation
Manuscript ID
IJBPA-12-2019-0111.R3
Manuscript Type:
Original Article
Keywords:
Structural health monitoring, Industry 4.0, piezoceramic sensor,
concrete, Internet of things (IoT), Construction industry
International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation
International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation
Page 1 of 2
Ref: Manuscript ID IJBPA-12-2019-0111.R2
Journal: International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation
Title: Real-time structural health monitoring for concrete beams: a cost-effective ‘industry 4.0’
solution using piezo sensors
REVIEWERS’ COMMENTS AND AUTHORS’ RESPONSE
The authors wish to extend thanks to the referees once again for their constructive comments and
suggestions. These minor comments have now been addressed and a final file resubmitted for your
consideration using the ‘tracked changes’ feature within MS Word. Once again, thank you.
No.
Reviewer
Authors’ Response
Editor Comments
1
We are almost ready to accept your
manuscript for publication, however
there are a few minor points to be
addressed.
Thank you – this has certainly been a
thorough process.
Referee No.1
2
Accept - The authors have certainly
made significant effort in addressing
some of the reviewer’s earlier comments,
and the quality of the manuscript has
significantly improved from the
‘originality’ and ‘contributions’
perspectives.
Thank you for the constructive comments
and suggestions offered during the writing
and revision of this manuscript. Your
assistance is much appreciated.
Referee No.2
3
The authors have made effort to improve
the paper, further change would be made
to expand the research implication
section and make sure the originality are
aligned with the research aims and
objectives.
The research implications section has been
expanded to include new text and an
additional citation viz:
“Hitherto, Industry 4.0 has received scant
academic attention within extant literature
but has already been successfully adopted
in more technologically advanced sectors
such as manufacturing (Al-Saeed et al.,
2020). The research presented therefore
provides a useful case study of Industry 4.0
adoption and thus serves to generate wider
polemic debate and discussion within the
contemporary construction and civil
engineering management discipline.”
4
The rationale of this research study is
interesting and meaning to the industry.
However, the solid explanations or
examples of its research implications are
neglect. The results and implications of
this research can be seen as practical.
More discussions on its implications on
theory and real work practices are looked
Again, further new text has been added to
the practical implications section viz:
“For industry practitioners, the accurate
structural health monitoring of concrete
structures has been an historically
expensive and time consuming process. By
combining technologically advanced
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International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation
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forward.
industry 4.0 digital technologies with novel
low-cost sensors an automated hybrid
analysis system developed during this
research demonstrates enormous potential
to revolutionise the structural health
monitoring of concrete structures. More
specifically, The developed system
redefines structural health monitoring of
concrete with some significant practical
implications implications viz:…”
And again at the and of this section viz:
“Cumulatively, the compelling evidence
reported upon in this paper should
stimulate wider academic research and
development and possibly expansion of the
advanced Industry 4.0 technologies
adopted to other areas of construction and
civil engineering management.”
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International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation
REAL-TIME STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING FOR
CONCRETE BEAMS: A COST-EFFECTIVE ‘INDUSTRY 4.0’
SOLUTION USING PIEZO SENSORS
ABSTRACT
Purpose: This research paper adopts the fundamental tenets of advanced technologies in
industry 4.0 to monitor the structural health of concrete beam members using cost
effective non-destructive technologies. In so doing, the work illustrates how a
coalescence of low-cost digital technologies can seamlessly integrate to solve practical
construction problems.
Methodology: A mixed philosophies epistemological design is adopted to implement
the empirical quantitative analysis of ‘real-time’ data collected via sensor-based
technologies streamed through a Raspberry Pi and uploaded onto a cloud-based system.
Data was analysed using a hybrid approach that combined both vibration characteristic
based method and linear variable differential transducers (LVDT).
Findings: The research utilises a novel digital research approach for accurately
detecting and recording the localisation of structural cracks in concrete beams. This non-
destructive low-cost approach was shown to perform with a high degree of accuracy and
precision, as verified by the LVDT measurements. This research is testament to the fact
that as technological advancements progress at an exponential rate, the cost of
implementation continues to reduce to produce higher accuracy ‘mass-market’ solutions
for industry practitioners.
Originality: Accurate structural health monitoring of concrete structures necessitates
expensive equipment, complex signal processing and skilled operator. The concrete
industry is in dire need of a simple but reliable technique that can reduce the testing
time, cost and complexity of maintenance of structures. This was the first experiment of
its kind that seeks to develop an unconventional approach to solve the maintenance
problem associated with concrete structures. This study merges industry 4.0 digital
technologies with a novel low-cost and automated hybrid analysis for real-time
structural health monitoring of concrete beams by fusing several multidisciplinary
approaches in one integral technological configuration.
KEYWORDS
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International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation
Structural health monitoring, Industry 4.0, piezoceramic sensor, Internet of Things
(IoT), concrete, construction industry.
INTRODUCTION
Extant literature acknowledges the significance of implementing long-term structural
health monitoring (SHM) (Sheikh et al., 2016) systems for civil infrastructures, in order
to secure structural safety and issue incipient warnings of structural damage prior to
costly repair (Li et al., 2016). To underscore the scale of this operations and
maintenance activity, the concrete repair industry in the US is estimated to generate 25
billion USD per year (Al-Mahaidi and Kalfat 2018). Indeed, over 25% of Canadian
concrete bridges are deemed to be structurally deficient (Cusson et al., 2011), and 85%
of high-rise buildings in New South Wales (NSW) built after 2000 had some form of
structural failure (Randolph et al., 2019). SHM refers to a non-destructive process of
implementing a damage identification and diagnosis strategy (Sohn et al., 2003). In the
context of concrete members (cast in-situ or prefabricated), SHM refers to the detection
of abnormalities or deformities (i.e., arising via deterioration, damage or failure) and
provides information regarding structural health and integrity of concrete members for
continued use (Agarwal et al., 2017; Zou et al., 2019).
The structural health of concrete members relies on several factors, including
temperature (both external and internal), humidity, moisture content, applied stresses,
and boundary conditions during manufacturing and its life cycle (Strangfeld et al., 2017;
Tran et al., 2017). Structural members’ design normally takes these factors into
consideration (Ghodoosi et al., 2018). However, conditions are likely to change during
the service life of concrete members, with the potential to significantly affect the overall
health of the structure, providing the likelihood of deformations and failure (James et al.,
2019). Moreover, designers can implement little control over the external conditions
confronting concrete during its curing process (Joshi 2019; Moon et al., 2016).
In the current practice, several innovative and non-destructive methodologies have been
developed to address the above challenges, including c-scan (Liu et al., 2019); x-rays
(Marzec and Tejchman 2019); linear variable displacement transformers (LVDT)
(Mohandoss et al., 2019); conventional microscopes (Jang et al., 2019). The aim is to
identify and/or monitor structural deficiencies and cracks present in concrete structures
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