Structural Health Monitoring: A Review

The use of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a key to achieve technological leaps in the design and operation of engineering structures. Composite materials incorporating SHM systems enable the design and manufacture of tailored smart structures. This paper focuses on the application of SHM for various components including those in the maritime, oil and gas, civil infrastructure and other industries as a means of highlighting the issues that is faced by conventional methods. Incorporation of SHM has the potential to reduce through-life costs by the adoption of Condition Based Maintenance and to reduce operating costs by the design of more structurally efficient aircraft. The paper addresses the convenience involved in the design, certification, manufacture and through life support of such structures. Critical areas of development have been identified to enable the implementation of SHM in future composite structures.