Session: 04-04: Integrated Smart Systems

Paper Number: 91178

91178 - Investigation of Mounting Techniques for Concrete Floor-Mounted Accelerometers Used in Smart Buildings 

In smart building infrastructure the mounting of measurement devices must be carefully determined in order to obtain meaningful data and accurately record the dynamics within the building. Specifically, it is important to develop a sensor mounting method so that the highest frequency band of interest can be accurately obtained. This is especially crucial in safety critical applications such as footstep localization, fall detection, and gunshot detection since high frequencies could possess useful information. Currently, it is common practice in structural health monitoring of building infrastructure for sensors to be mounted either temporarily on the surface of a floor with wax, or permanently on the underside of the structural steel floor joist. Using either of these methods causes limitations in either the permanence of the setup or in the spacing of sensors. This paper explores a novel accelerometer mounting method to overcome these limitations by mounting accelerometers on the underside of a concrete floor with a corrugated steel floor tray through a steel mounting plate fastened by concrete anchors. This method will be evaluated through experimental testing and analysis on a developed floor section mockup which mimics the floor structure in Tennessee Technological University’s newly constructed Lab Sciences Commons building and the floor currently being constructed in the campus’ new engineering building. Testing is carried out by using an impact hammer on the concrete surface of the floor section while measuring the response from accelerometers mounted at various locations. The frequency response of the floor tray-mounted accelerometer is assessed and compared to that of conventional floor-mounted and joist-mounted accelerometers installed on the same mockup.

Presenting Author: Jacob Hott Tennessee Technological University