Structural Health Monitoring Of Bridges And Buildings In Africa: Challenges And Difficulties
ABSTRACT: The steel and mixed construction sector is growing worldwide due to the obvious advantages of steel structures in comparison to reinforced concrete structures. To ensure this trend, it is necessary to clarify some of the drawbacks that are normally wrongly linked to steel constructions, namely those related with corrosion, fire resistance and fatigue. One of the most logical approaches is to demonstrate the real behavior of the steel structures under service conditions by incorporating systems of structural health monitoring. This paper presents some of the experiences of the VESAM Group with the development of the SIGMA system and the installation of this system in some constructions in Europe and Africa.
AUTHORS:
Pedro Santos1, Eduardo Gonçalves1, Gualter Martins1, Filipe Santos1
1 GRUPO VESAM, Zona Industrial de Cantanhede, Lote 69, 3060-197 Cantanhede, Portugal
Paper to be presented in the X Conference of Steel and Mixed Construction, 26-27 November, 2015, Coimbra, Portugal (in Portuguese)