Advanced Sensing Technologies for Structural Health Monitoring and Nondestructive Testing
A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Fault Diagnosis & Sensors".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 March 2026
Special Issue Editor
Interests: structural health monitoring; damage detection; damage sensitive
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Advanced sensing technologies have revolutionized structural health monitoring (SHM) and nondestructive testing (NDT), enabling real-time, continuous, and automated assessments of infrastructure and engineered systems. These innovations play a pivotal role in enhancing safety, prolonging service life, and optimizing maintenance costs across civil engineering, aerospace, energy, and other critical sectors.
Advantages of Advanced Sensing in SHM/NDT
- Continuous Monitoring: This enables real-time tracking of structural integrity, allowing for early detection of damage.
- Remote and Automated Operation: This reduces the need for manual inspections and improves safety.
- High Sensitivity: Advanced sensors can detect micro-scale changes, such as early-stage cracks or subtle deformations.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Integration with intelligent algorithms and data analytics supports predictive maintenance and risk assessment.
Challenges
- Data Management: Large volumes of sensor data require robust storage, processing, and analysis solutions.
- Deployment Complexity: Sensor installation and calibration can be complex, especially for large or inaccessible structures.
- Environmental Effects: Sensors must be robust against temperature, humidity, electromagnetic interference, and other environmental factors.
- Integration and Standardization: Combining data from multiple sensor types and ensuring interoperability remains a technical challenge.
Recent Trends
- Smart Materials and Sensors: Development of self-sensing materials and multifunctional sensors that can both monitor and respond to changes.
- Wireless and Energy-Harvesting Sensors: Reducing the need for wiring and external power sources.
- Machine Learning and AI: Advanced algorithms for anomaly detection, pattern recognition, and predictive analytics in SHM/NDT data streams.
- Distributed Sensing: Use of sensor networks for spatially resolved monitoring and localization of damage.
Advanced sensing technologies are at the core of modern structural health monitoring and nondestructive testing. By enabling the early detection of damage, supporting predictive maintenance, and improving the safety and reliability of critical infrastructure, these technologies represent a fundamental shift towards smarter, more resilient engineering systems.
Submissions may include, but are not limited to, the following areas:
- Distributed strain sensing;
- Building health;
- Concrete crack mapping;
- Aircraft wing inspection;
- Pressure vessel safety;
- Micro-vibration monitoring;
- Bridge cable monitoring.
Dr. Magda Ruiz
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- structural health monitoring (SHM)
- nondestructive testing (NDT), assessing condition and performance
- early detection of damage/deterioration
- repairs and maintenance of structures
- advanced sensing technologies
- real-time distributed data
- artificial intelligence
- statistical learning
- machine learning
- data science
- feature extraction
- pattern recognition
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