Novosibirsk State Technical University has developed a software and analytical complex for monitoring the condition of buildings and engineering structures based on acoustic noise analysis. The development has passed the state registration of computer programs.
The work was conducted under the supervision of Konstantin Fedin, Associate Professor of the Department of Geophysical Systems at NSTU-NETI. The passive engineering seismology method used by scientists makes it possible to identify structural defects by isolating standing waves from passive noise recordings. By examining the distribution of standing waves, it is possible to assess the condition of a building or structure, calculate the remaining resource, and identify hidden defects such as cracks or mounting losses.
The main advantage of this method is passivity, that is, there is no need to use active sources such as explosions, shocks or vibrations that can cause damage to the object under study. However, processing the data obtained as a result of using the standing wave method caused difficulties due to the fact that it required a lot of time. To change the situation for the better, a software package has been developed that significantly simplifies data processing.
"During the measurement process, we place sensors with a repeating step on the object under study. Sensors measure the instantaneous rate of its oscillations. These fluctuations are invisible to humans, as they are measured in nanometers. From the recorded noise vibrations, we distinguish the natural vibrations of the object under study — standing waves. By interpreting the pattern of the distribution of standing waves, it is possible to diagnose the condition of the object and identify defects in it," said Andrey Skorobogatko, Master of the Department of Geophysical Systems at NSTU-NETI.
According to him, previously, to build maps of the amplitude distribution of standing waves suitable for diagnosing structures, it was necessary to first calculate the spectrograms of seismic recordings in one program, then obtain from them the averaged oscillation spectra corresponding to the observation points. Next, it was necessary to select the value of the oscillation amplitude with the frequency of interest and, comparing it with the coordinates, put the peak on the map in another program. This procedure had to be repeated for all measurement points.
"I have been developing a specialized software package that greatly simplifies the task of data processing. The main part of my work was to make seismic recordings and measurement schemes into the software package, and it could automatically build a map of the amplitude distribution of vibrations over a selected frequency range. That is, he automated a huge amount of routine operations," said Andrey Skorobogatko.
Practical field experiments were conducted to test the complex. For example, several residential buildings in the Moscow region and buildings of a livestock complex in the Tver region were examined. When processing the received data, the complex demonstrated its efficiency and effectiveness.
The software and analytical complex has been implemented by a team of scientists, is mandatory for data processing and has passed the state registration of computer programs. Work is currently underway to improve the user experience and add new features.