IoT-Driven Structural Health Monitoring: Case Studies, Challenges, and Future Prospects

The continuous monitoring of infrastructure is essential for ensuring safety, optimizing maintenance efforts, and extending the lifespan of critical assets such as buildings. The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) has enabled real-time, automated, and cost-effective monitoring solutions, replacing traditional labor-intensive methods. This paper presents our work on the concept of IoT-based monitoring for infrastructure assessment, with a focus on its significance in structural health monitoring (SHM). To demonstrate the effectiveness of IoT in this domain, we present two SHM systems as case studies. The first case study explores an integrated IoT framework that utilizes synchronized sensors, short-range and long-range wireless communication, and centralized cloud-based analysis for detecting and identifying structural damage. The second case study, which is considered an upgrade for the first one, utilizes a hybrid fog-cloud computing model, where preliminary damage detection is performed locally at the fog layer before selected data is transmitted to the cloud for further analysis. Both systems employ vibration-based techniques for damage detection and demonstrate the potential of IoT in enhancing structural resilience, improving maintenance strategies, and reducing operational costs. The paper also discusses key challenges such as sensor synchronization, data reliability, and computational efficiency, and outlines future research directions for advancing IoT-enabled SHM technologies.