Browsing by Subject "Strain sensor"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Open Access
Development of a distance-independent wireless passive RF resonator sensor and a new telemetric measurement technique for wireless strain monitoring
(Elsevier B.V., 2017) Alipour, A.; Unal, E.; Gokyar, S.; Demir, Hilmi Volkan
We proposed and developed a novel wireless passive RF resonator scheme that enables telemetric strain sensing avoiding the need for calibration at different interrogation distances. The specific architecture of the proposed structure allows for strong inductive coupling and, thus, a higher wireless signal-to-noise ratio. Here, in operation, the frequency scan of the sensor impedance was used to measure simultaneously both the impedance amplitude and resonance frequency. Using this wireless sensor, we further introduced a new telemetric monitoring modality that employs full electrical characteristics of the system to achieve correct strain extraction at any interrogation distance. In principle, any deformation of the sensor structure results in the resonance frequency shift to track strain. However, changing of the interrogation distance also varies the inductive coupling between the sensor and its pick-up antenna at the interrogation distance. Therefore, at varying interrogation distances, it is not possible to attribute an individual resonance frequency value solely to an individual strain level, consequently resulting in discrepancies in the strain extraction if the interrogation distance is not kept fixed or distance-specific calibration is not used. In this work, we showed that by using both the proposed passive sensor structure and wireless measurement technique, strain can be successfully extracted independent of the interrogation distance for the first time. The experimental results indicate high sensitivity and linearity for the proposed system. These findings may open up new possibilities in applications with varying interrogation distance for mobile wireless sensing. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.
Open Access
Multi-point single-antenna sensing enabled by wireless nested split-ring resonator sensors
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2016) Ozbey, B.; Ertürk, V. B.; Kurc, O.; Altintas, A.; Demir, Hilmi Volkan
In this paper, simultaneous multi-point wireless sensing is proposed and demonstrated via multiple sensors in nested split-ring resonator (NSRR) geometry coupled to a single illuminator antenna. In this passive multi-point sensing system, each probe in the sensor array is assigned a non-overlapping spectral interval for frequency shift in response to local mechanical loading around a unique operating resonance frequency in the band of the antenna. Here, it is shown that the antenna is capable of capturing the responses from all probes in a single frequency sweep. Furthermore, the inter-coupling between the array elements and the effect of antenna illumination on the coupling are experimentally investigated in a systematic way. In addition, as a proof-of-concept real-life application in structural health monitoring, two NSRR sensors are located inside a concrete beam to monitor the strain forming on reinforcing bars, and this dual-probe system is demonstrated to record strain simultaneously via both of the embedded probes.
Open Access
Wireless sensing in complex electromagnetic media: construction materials and structural monitoring
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2015) Özbey, B.; Demir, Hilmi Volkan; Kurc, O.; Ertürk, V. B.; Altıntaş, A.
In this paper, wireless sensing in the presence of complex electromagnetic media created by combinations of reinforcing bars and concrete is investigated. The wireless displacement sensing system, primarily designed for use in structural health monitoring (SHM), is composed of a comb-like nested split-ring resonator (NSRR) probe and a transceiver antenna. Although each complex medium scenario is predicted to have a detrimental effect on sensing in principle, it is demonstrated that the proposed sensor geometry is able to operate fairly well in all scenarios except one. In these scenarios that mimic real-life SHM, it is shown that this sensor exhibits a high displacement resolution of 1 μm, a good sensitivity of 7 MHz/mm in average, and a high dynamic range extending over 20 mm. For the most disruptive scenario of placing concrete immediately behind NSRR, a solution based on employing a separator behind the probe is proposed to overcome the handicaps introduced by the medium. In order to obtain a one-to-one mapping from the measured frequency shift to the displacement, a numerical fit is proposed and used. The effects of several complex medium scenarios on this fit are discussed. These results indicate that the proposed sensing scheme works well in real-life SHM applications. © 2001-2012 IEEE.