PSI - Issue 64

Manuel Boccolini et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 64 (2024) 2206–2213 Manuel Boccolini/ Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2024) 000 – 000

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• an inclinometer positioned in the top box of the column to measure residual inclinations resulting, for example, from seismic events or subsidence; • a temperature sensor to monitor thermal drifts and an environmental sensor for monitoring CO 2 , relative humidity, and internal temperature, both positioned in the bottom box, aimed at monitoring the internal air quality, as well as local fire development (Dal Lago & Tucci 2023); • a flow meter positioned inside the internal rainwater downpipes of the smart column to verify proper drainage, detecting any possible obstruction of the conduct, positioned in the intermediate box. On the roof, an environmental weather station is installed housing: • an anemometer for monitoring the wind speed acting at the level of the roof;

• a rain gauge for monitoring the amount of rainfall on the roof; • a temperature sensor for monitoring external climatic conditions; • a webcam for monitoring the roof; • a PLC for sensor management.

Moreover, additional sensors may be plugged to monitor the performance of specific dampers installed for the mitigation of earthquake-induced motions (Casali et al. 2023; Fulco et al. 2024) or wind-induced vortex shedding (Foti & Dal Lago 2021), or pressure sensors may be incorporated into the roof station to monitor the pressure induced by snow accumulation (Dal Lago et al. 2021).

Fig. 1. Construction of the instrumented column at the Manini Prefabricated Plant

Structural monitoring addresses both static and dynamic responses. Accelerometric sensors transmit 100 data points per second, while all other sensors transmit data every 10 minutes. The system, comprised of sensors and a PLC, is developed to send recorded data to the cloud platform, where it is processed using dedicated algorithms and then displayed on a web portal accessible by both the building's client (client area) and the Control Room at Manini Prefabbricati (administrator area), with the workflow described in Fig. 3. The set of parameters monitoring internal and external climatic conditions of the building provides information on the efficiency of energy systems. The environmental sensor detects abnormal CO 2 levels, which can be harmful to human health, and thermo-hygrometric conditions indicated by relative humidity. The monitoring service provided with Manini Connect notifies the user of threshold-exceeding values in real-time, aiming to avoid prolongated exposure, especially during certain production activities characterized by higher pollutant emissions.

2.2 Platform and Data Visualization

The platform allows for the visualization of incoming alerts, sensor readings, and frames captured by the roof mounted webcam during each threshold-exceeding event. Through this tool, Control Room technicians can analyze the correspondence between alerts and measured data and provide early warning service to the client, offering information regarding any detected issues if necessary. Data communication from the site to the centralized cloud