Alveolar Metallic Structural Slab and Monitoring System

ABSTRACT:
The use of composite materials in construction, in particular sandwich panels, is increasing more and more each day due to the excellent behavior properties and high strength/weight ratio. This paper presents the concept of a new structural panel that can be adopted in both bridge decks and slabs of industrial plants. The system is composed by a sandwich panel that includes two steel plates and a core comprising an honeycomb alveolar structure. This type of solution presents several advantages in comparison to traditional solutions being expected that it can be an alternative to traditional decks and slabs of reinforced concrete.
The structural health monitoring system to be installed in order to characterize the structural behavior, its use and environmental parameters is also described, being currently under development, presenting a low cost, high energy autonomy and reliability. With this approach it is possible to develop a methodology to predict the needs of maintenance of structures installed in remote areas, optimizing the human and material resources to reduce costs.

AUTHORS:
Filipe Santos¹, Pedro Santos¹

¹ VESAM Engenharia SA, Zona Industrial de Cantanhede, Lote 69, Cantanhede, Portugal

Paper presented in “II Congresso Luso-Africano de Construção Metálica Sustentável”, July 19, 2013, Maputo, Mozambique (in Portuguese)