Recent Advances in Structural Health Monitoring

Dear Colleagues,

All the theoretical and technological aspects of structural control and health monitoring theory on materials and structures are covered in the concept of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM).

There are currently a number of highly effective non-destructive evaluation tools available for SHM monitoring. Nondestructive testing (NDT) refers to a group of non-invasive inspection procedures that are used to assess material qualities, components, and complete process units. Damage mechanisms can also be detected, characterized, and measured using these techniques.

The emphasis of this Topical Collection is the crucial field of damage identification and maintenance of modern and historical buildings, as well as for aerospace and mechanical engineering structures and civil infrastructure.

Original contributions using analytical, numerical, and experimental methods are sought in the main areas of monitoring and control of materials and structures.

Topics include the more classic areas of monitoring, such as data acquisition, signal processing, and sensor technology, by using acoustic emission damage detection or vibration-based identification methods. Furthermore, in the field of mechanics, passive, active, and semi-active schemes and implementations to perform systems control diagnostics are well accepted.

Other areas of great interest are those of remote data analysis methodologies, such as wireless communications, control of monitoring systems, sensor-logger combinations for mobile applications, and those on multifunctional materials and structures or artificial intelligence tools.

Among others, the methodologies that involve the use of embedded N/MEMS sensors for local damage detection, corrosion sensors, optical fiber sensors, sonic-ultrasonic tests, digital image correlation, tomography techniques, Raman and terahertz spectroscopy, and electromagnetic analysis, which allow evaluating the level of structural damage and its evolution over time, will find space in this Topical Collection.

As a result, the aim of this new initiative is to bring together researchers working in the field of NDT-SHM, both at the material and structure scale. It is expected to provide novel insights into the application of NDT to a wide variety of materials and structures in the fields of Civil Engineering and Architecture, as well as in Mechanical Engineering.

Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Lacidogna
Prof. Dr. Sanichiro Yoshida
Dr. Guang-Liang Feng
Prof. Dr. Jie Xu
Dr. Alessandro Grazzini
Dr. Gianfranco Piana
Topic Editors