(Manuscript No: I12725-04) June 10, 2012 / Accepted: June 18, 2012

RFID Based Structure Health Monitoring

Farzad Norouzi fard*
He is now with the Department of mechatronics Islamic azad university south Tehran branch Tehran, Iran (Email: st_f_norouzifard@azad.ac.ir)

Sasan Mohammadi
He is now with the Department of mechatronics Islamic azad university south Tehran branch Tehran, Iran (Email: s_mohammadi@azad.ac.ir)

Peyman Parvizi
He is now with the Department of mechatronics Islamic azad university south Tehran branch Tehran, Iran (Email: st_p_parvizi@azad.ac.ir) Abstract - Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a topic of great interest in structural engineering due to the ageing of the built infrastructures and the growing use of innovative structural systems and construction materials. Although several sensing technologies have been developed for use in SHM systems, RFID sensors are now attracting much attention due to their advantages over other types of sensors. This study presents new RFID Based System in Structure Health Monitoring that fined cracks by measuring the structure Frequency. By monitoring changes in vibrations of structures it is possible to identify hidden cracks and fractures. It's not always possible to see damage to a structure, but using vibrations it is possible to see what can't be seen. Changes in the physical properties of a structure, such as cracks and fractures, will cause changes in its vibration. By monitoring these vibrations it is possible to detect any changes which may indicate structure damage. Continuously monitoring the health of structures will enable the early identification of distress and allow appropriate retrofitting in order to avoid structure failure or collapse. Keywords: Structure Health Monitoring; Structure Frequency Monitoring; RFID sensors. Introduction Structural health monitoring (SHM) is an emerging technology which combines advanced sensor technology with intelligent algorithms to interrogate the health condition of structures in real time or whenever necessary. Potential benefits of SHM technology include improvement of reliability and safety, enhancement of performance and operation, and reduction of lifecycle cost. Among many SHM techniques, the dynamic response-based damage detection method [1, 2] attracts most attention due to its simplicity for implementation. This technique makes use of the dynamic response of structures which offers unique information on the defects contained with these structures. In an attempt to lower the high capital costs associated with wire-based monitoring systems, replacement of system wires with wireless technologies is proposed. This concept was first introduced in 1996 by Straser who proposed using wireless radios for the transfer of structural measurement data obtained from system sensors to a centralized data acquisition system in near real-time [3]. With a significant amount of computational power included in the architectural core of a wireless sensing unit, the concept of a wireless sensing unit for service as the primary building block of a real-time wireless modular monitoring system (WiMMS) was extended in [4]. Outside of structural engineering, the design of wireless smart transducers employing direct line-of-sight lasers for data transfer in military relevant applications including real-time battlefield management is focused in [5]. 1

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Within industry, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) have been instrumental in issuing the IEEE1451 standard, an industry standard for plug and play communication between smart sensing transducers. The current IEEE1451 working group is expressing a desire to extend the IEEE1451 standard for explicit inclusion of wireless technology[6]. This research explores a different approach of exploiting wireless electromagnetic waves for vibration sensing through the development of smart skins made of radio frequency identification (RFID)-enabled patch antennas [7-11]. Instead of using wireless technologies to transmit digitized data, the vibration-dependent behavior of the electromagnetic waves in the antenna is exploited as the sensing mechanism. The basic concept is that when a RFID sensor is under vibration, its electromagnetic resonance frequency may change accordingly. This paper presents an active RFID-based system for measuring Frequency of structures, operate with power source such as solar cell. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In Section 2 the system is described. The damage detection is presented in Section3. the last sectionis dedicated to conclusions. Wireless Vibration Sensing System components Fig.1 shows a general structure of our system.

Fig.1 frequency detection system

This system includes two parts : Mechanical part Electrical part

A. M ECHANICAL PART Mechanical elements of this system are made of masses or inertias, which have been attached onto springs and dampers. Often the damping is viscous and for the rectilinear motion, the retaining force is proportional to velocity. Similarly, for the rotational motion, the retaining force is proportional to angular velocity. Also the force or torque exerted by a spring or shaft is usually proportional to displacement (fig.2).

Farzad Norouzi fard, Sasan Mohammadi, Peyman Parvizi

k1

k2

c1

m1

c2

m2

Fig.2 Mechanical elements

How mechanical part work? Mass M1 is supported by a spring, which have stiffness k1 and the mass movement is damped by a damping element with a coefficient c1 and Mass M2 is supported by a spring, which have stiffness k2 and the mass movement is damped by a damping element with a coefficient c2. Masses might be displaced with respect to vibration sensor housing only in the vertical direction. During operation, the housing is subject to be accelerated by deflection of the mass m2. , and the output signal is proportional to the

Since the vibration mass is constrained as a linear motion, the system has one degree of freedom. By applying Newton's second law of motion, it gives: 1. ma=-kx-c

Where a is the acceleration of the mass m and is given by: 2. a=

Substituting for a gives the required equation of motion: 3. m +c +kx=m

To solve the equation (3), it is convenient to use Laplace transformation, which yields: 4. m X(s) + cs X(s) + k X(s) = -m A(s) respectively. Solving the above for X(s) we

where X(s) and A(s) are the Laplace transform of x(t) and receive: ( ) 5. X(s) = ( ) We introduce a conventional variable 6. X(s) = (
( )

and 2

then eq.6 can be expressed as:

The value of represents the sensors angular natural frequency of the system and is the normalized damping coefficient. Let us set 7. G(s) = ( )

Therefore eq.14 becomes X(s)=G(s)A(s), and the solution can be expressed in terms of the inverse Laplace transform operator as:

International Journal Of Structronics & Mechatronics * ( ) ( )+

8.

x(t) =

From the convolution theorem, the Laplace transform can be expressed as: 9. x(t) = ( ) ( ) * ( )+. if we set

Where a is the time dependent impulse of the sensor body and g(t) is the inverse transform = then eq.17 has two solutions. One is for the under-damped mode ( ) 10. x(t) =
( )

) ( ) ) ) ( )

Another for the over-damped mode ( 11. x(t) =

( )

Where the above solutions can be evaluated for different acceleration inputs applied to the sensor base. This can be found elsewhere [12]. Fig.3 shows amplitude as function of frequency for different .

Fig.3 Graph of amplitude versus frequency of a vibration for different

B. ELECTRICAL PART i. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) RFID technology emerged in the 1940s as a way of remotely identifying aircraft for military purposes, and has since been used widely in civil aviation. However, recent technological advances have reduced the cost and the size of RFID tags, opening up a wider range of uses. The tags themselves consist of an electronic circuit, which stores data, and an antenna which communicates the data via radio waves. A RFID reader interrogates the tags to obtain the information stored. When the reader broadcasts radio waves, all the tags within range will communicate. Software is required to control the reader and to collect and filter the information. There is a range of different types of RFID system available, for example, tags can be either active, semi-passive (semi-active) or passive (as shown in fig.4).

Farzad Norouzi fard, Sasan Mohammadi, Peyman Parvizi

RFID Tags

Active RFID tags

Semi-passive RFID tags

Passive RFID tags

Fig.4 Typs of RFID

Active RFID tags have their own internal power source, which are used to power any ICs and to generate the outgoing signal. They may have longer range and larger memories than passive tags, as well as the ability to store additional information sent by the transceiver. To economize power consumption, many beacon concepts are operated at fixed intervals. Semi-Passive RFID tags is very similar to passive tags except for the addition of a small battery. This battery allows the tag IC to be constantly powered. This removes necessity the aerial to collect power from the incoming signal. Therefore, Aerials can be optimized for the backscattering signal. Semi-passive RFID tags are faster in response and therefore stronger in reading ratio compared to passive tags. Passive RFID tags do not incorporate a battery and responds with the energy provided by a reader/writer. Communication range is short, but the cost is low. This type of tags are expected to be applied to improve efficiencies in the area of the cash register, picking work at a delivery center, inventory control, and distribution/traceability.

How electrical part work? RF-signal intensity decreases as a function of the distance between the transmitters to the receiver. Typically, it follows the inverse-square law for a free-space (ideal) environment, and with a higher path-loss exponent for indoor scenarios. When a tag is moved, the RF-signal intensity where the tag stays changes as well. Therefore, tag movement can be detected by measuring changes in the RF-signal intensity (Fig.5) at either the reader or the tag. This approach could be pursued in several ways: 1) Intensity-Detecting Tags: It is easier to integrate an RF-signal intensity detector into a tag than an accelerometer, because only RF technology is used in the former, while both RF and micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) technologies are used in the latter. However, this approach would still in- crease cost, and require a new generation of RF tags. 2) Intensity-Detecting Readers: It is simpler, cheaper, and more feasible to modify readers rather than tags. Instead of measuring the intensity at a signal tag directly, we infer it indirectly. Existing readers all support a poll command, wherein the reader transmits a batch command signal to all tags and counts the number of responses received from that tag.

Fig.5 RF signal intensity detector

We therefore define a response rate as: 12.

International Journal Of Structronics & Mechatronics

Where N represents the number of polls and scalar between the values of 0 and 1.

is the count of responses to those polls.

is thus a dimensionless

Fig.6 shows the response rate of a tag at different locations in decreasing distance order from the reader, for a fixed orientation; Fig.7 shows frequency domain analysis based on the fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the observed raw set at each location.

Fig.6 Characteristics of response rate at different locations, with N =20 for a duration of 1 s

Fig.7 Power spectrum of response rate at different locations, with N =20 for a duration of 1 s

The results reveal the following: The farther the tag, the lower the response rate in Fig.6 as expected. This relationship is analogous to that of received RF-signal power with distance, and is the basis of our subsequent system based on the response rate. Damage Detection Most existing model-based damage detection methods require the baseline data of healthy structures. The damage index is usually calculated using the dierence between the damaged and intact structural model data. To avoid the extra and dicult task of obtaining the data of baseline or healthy structures, a new damage detection algorithm called irregularity-based damage detection method was recently proposed by [28]. This method is capable of detecting the damage without the knowledge of the intact structures. Some fundamental application details of this novel technique are presented in this section. Consider a measured mode shape of a damaged beam shown by the solid line in Fig.8. It consists of two parts: (1) the smooth part Fig.9 showing the mode shape of the structure without damage and measurement noise, and (2) the non-smooth part Fig.10 showing the irregularities induced by the damage in the structure and 6

Farzad Norouzi fard, Sasan Mohammadi, Peyman Parvizi

measurement noise. Only the latter part contains the information of damage. This irregular part in Fig10, however, is generally overshadowed by the smooth part of the mode shape because the signal prompting the smooth part is much stronger, as demonstrated in Fig.8.

Fig.8 mode shape of structure with damage

Fig.9 mode shape of structure without damage

Fig.10 irregularity induced by damage and noise

It is thus dicult to detect damage by merely examining the mode shape. To overcome this diculty, we can extract the irregular part from the whole mode shape. Without the inuence of the smooth part of the mode shape, the irregularity induced by damage can be magnied signicantly as shown in Fig.10. Thus, the damage can be detected easily by visual examining the irregular part of the mode shape (Fig.10). Bearing in mind the analogy between the mode shape and prole of a curve, the damage (Fig.10) can be easily extracted as the irregularity of the curve (the mode shape, Fig.8). To this end, a lter is used to eliminate the global eect (the smooth part of the mode shape (Fig.9) from the measured mode shape. Consequently, only the irregularities indicating local features of the mode shape are left and magnied on the irregularity prole. 13. 14. ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

Where z is the height of the mode shape; h(x) is the weighted function used to smooth the mode shape. Eq.13 is used to calculate the smooth part of the mode shape, and the resulting w is referred to as waviness of the curve (the mode shape) (Fig.9). Thus, the irregularity part (R) of the mode shape is obtained by subtracting the smooth part from the total model shape, as expressed by Eq.14. There are many lters available [29], but the most widely used one is Gaussian lter. This lter uses the following weighted function: 15. ( ) ( ( ) )

Where

and

is the cuto wave-length.

International Journal Of Structronics & Mechatronics

Triangular lter is another frequently-used one with weighted function given by: 16. ( ) ( ) | |

Where B is the cut-o length of the lter. Conclusion In this this study we present a new method of structure health monitoring. In this system the frequency of structure was calculated by mechanical and electrical part of our system and after that the damage was detected by analyzing the mode shape of output signal of our monitoring system. Our proposed system has many benefits than other systems like reducing energy usage and reducing the cost of preparation and Implementation. as future work, a system with similar or better performance, but with better cost that this system needs to be found. References 1. Doebling, S.W., Farrar, C.R., Prime, M.B., 1998. A summary review of vibration-based damage identification methods. The Shock and Vibration Digest 20, 91105. Carden, E.P., Fanning, P., 2004. Vibration based condition monitoring: a review. Structural Health Monitoring 3 (4), 355377. E. G. Straser, A. S. Kiremidjian, T. H. Meng, and L. Redlefsen, Modular, wireless network platform for monitoring structures,Proceedings of the International Modal Analysis Conference IMAC, pp. 450-456, 1998. J. P. Lynch, K. H. Law, A. S. Kiremidjian, T. W. Kenny, and E. Carryer, A wireless modular monitoring system for civil structures, Proceedings of the International Modal Analysis Conference IMAC, 2002. . B. Chu, N. R. Lo, E. C. Berg, and K. S. Pister, Optical communication using micro corner cube reflectors, Proceedings of the 10th IEEE International Workshop on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, pp. 350-355, 1997. M. R. Moore, S. F. Smith, and K. Lee, Next-step a wireless IEEE 1451 standard for smart sensor networks, Sensors Magazine 18(9), pp. 26-33, 2001. S. Li, J. K. Visich, and B. M. Khumawala, Radio frequency identification technology: applications, technical challenges and strategies, Sensor Review. 26(2006), pp. 193-202. K. V. S. Rao, P. V. Nikitin, and S. F. Lan, Antenna design for UHF RFID tags: a review and apractical application, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag. 53(2005), pp. 3870-3876. L. Yang, A. Rida, R. Vyas, and M. M. Tentzeris, RFID tag and RF structures on paper substrates using inkjet-printing technology, IEEE T. Microw. Theory. 55(2007), pp. 2894-2901.

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Farzad Norouzi fard, Sasan Mohammadi, Peyman Parvizi

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