Major bridge failures in recent years have focused attention
on the need to monitor America’s highway bridges and other infrastructure. As
thousands of bridges, parking garages and other structures age, improved
methods for detecting deterioration could save lives and prevent economic
disruption.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are
developing a novel technology that would facilitate close monitoring of
structures for strain, stress and early formation of cracks. Their approach
uses wireless sensors that are low cost, require no power, can be implemented
on tough yet flexible polymer substrates, and can identify structural problems
at a very early stage. The only electronic component in the sensor is an
inexpensive radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip.