Structural Health Monitoring in Long-Span Steel Structures Based on the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System

The BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) provides precise positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services in the Asia-Pacific Region, but the BDS-based structural health monitoring (SHM) approach (SHM) is rarely studied, especially in civil engineering. Moreover, how BDS can be applied to complete the tasks of SHM in a real project is also not fully investigated, especially working in conjunction with other techniques. This study aims to propose a BDS-based approach for SHM in civil engineering. The performance of the proposed approach is investigated through a case study—the Tianhan Grand Theater (TGT). A specific Tianhan system corresponding to BDS is proposed to complete the SHM tasks of TGT. Based on the collected data, the trusses with maximum displacement and stress are found by BDS to evaluate structural health in the construction stage. The results show that the maximum displacement and stress have certain safety reserves and meet the requirements of the specifications and regulations. Thus, BDS can satisfactorily complete the tasks of SHM for Long-span steel structures. This study gives a clear view to engineers and researchers that how to apply BDS in structural construction and provides a valuable real case for evaluating the performance of BDS in SHM.