Laboratory Assessment of an In-Place Inclinometer Chain for Structural and Geotechnical Monitoring

The necessity of early warning systems to ensure people’s safety requires the usage of real-time monitoring instrumentation. To meet the required real-time monitoring performance, in-place inclinometer systems represent one of the most common solutions to obtain accurate measures over time. This paper presents the results of a laboratory tests campaign performed on the prototypes and preproduction samples of an in-place inclinometer chain for structural and geotechnical monitoring applications. First, each element sensor has been calibrated to reach a proper level of measure accuracy. Eventually, laboratory tests are carried out on both a single instrument (element) and on the complete measurement chain (system). The adopted centering device, obtained as a combination of a Cardan joint and four spring plungers avoids bending of elements by preventing fictitious displacement measurements and permits the creation of a kinematic chain that accommodates the displacements of a grooveless tube. A specially designed and constructed test set-up that permits assigning a movement to each node has been employed to test a specifically designed centering device and check the system stability over time. Different scenarios have been investigated to determine the accuracy and repeatability of the measures in replicating real cases. The results demonstrated the necessity of validating a measurement chain by analyzing its overall behavior and not limiting the study on the performances of a single element.