Structural damage detection of nuclear reactor sites using sensor networks

Civil structures undergo many physical loads and environmental effects which can cause damage. Failing to identify the damage may lead to irreparable property and life loss. Thus, investments and efforts are being taken to develop an efficient structural health monitoring (SHM) technology. The objective of this research was to implement an embedded thermocouple sensor network under controlled and variable conditions to assess the location of the damage inside the structure. In this study, a civil structure embedded with thermocouple sensors at 4 different levels was analyzed with statistical tools to detect possible damage locations. This research is the first to implement a statistical pattern recognition methodology to detect damage in nuclear structures.