Dam Monitoring
Strong Motion Instrumentation and Structural Health Monitoring solutions for Hydro Power Plants and Dams
Dam Monitoring
The Seisodin Dam Monitoring solution is a turnkey solution for seismic strong motion monitoring of all types of dams. The system, which is built around the proven and seismically qualified Tilia Force Balance Accelerographs, are tailored for each individual dam, and adapted to any special requirements that may be for your project.
Seismic Event Capture
Monitoring how seismic activity affects a dam structure is highly important. Earthquakes have potential to compromise the structural integrity of the dam, so measuring the vibration at key points of the structure is crucial in order to compare the peak accelerations to the design specifications of the dam.
The Tilia Dam Monitoring System enables engineers to assess the impact of an earthquake on the dam structure. Upon a seismic event, the system will generate event records, which will provide input for an automatically generated event report which details important parameters of the earthquake which are crucial for assessing the safety of the dam.
Structural Health Monitoring
The dynamic response of a structure, especially a large structure like a dam, gradually changes over the years of it’s operation – this is an expected behaviour. However, sudden change in the structural response is an indicator of a problem with the structure, and may be a warning sign that it is damaged. Monitoring large and critical structures for sudden or slowly growing damage is crucial, and can help prevent disastrous failures. Events like earthquakes, explosions and impacts as well as construction failures can alter the behaviour of the structure and potentially result in collapse or accelerated deterioration. Seisodin Tilia Instruments are fully compatible with ARTeMIS-SHM software for real-time dynamic structural monitoring.
How Seisodin Products Can Help
Monitoring a dam with strong motion accelerometers is a proven way to establish if the dam structure is in good health. By mounting 3-10 highly sensitive seismic accelerometers on and around the dam, it is possible to constantly, and automatically, monitor how the structure is behaving – that way it changes over time can be detected. In the event of an earthquake, seismologists and engineers can use the data recorded by the installed Seisodin system to assess if the structure has been damaged. It is also possible to configure automatic alarm issuance, so an alarm is set off if certain response parameters are exceeded. This alarm can be used to evacuate people, or engage other emergency procedures on the dam.
Seisodin offers a full sensor solution for dam monitoring, including waterproof, highly integrated accelerographs based on state-of-the-art force balance accelerometers. Seisodins Tilia-series of structural health monitoring equipment offer best-in-market 40ns synchronization between the sensors – even over distances up to 2km (1.2mi) using integrated fiber optical daisy chaining. The ability to have long distances between sensors is an essential feature for structural monitoring in dams and other large structures. By integrating long-range communication directly in the instrument, the system complexity is reduced and the reliability of the system is increased considerably.
