A novel fatigue monitoring system utilizing bio-inspiration concept of data track of tree rings

The conventional analysis of fatigue damage accumulation based on the whole strain course has defects such as: high cost, difficult to replace the strain sensors, complex system and unadaptable to engineering application et al. The data track of tree rings links the fatigue monitoring and the bio-inspiration concept together. A counter based on Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology is adopted to record the realtime characteristic of fatigue behavior: the amplitude of strain, the number of cycles and the stress state. Through the realization of the fatigue analysis algorithm by the DSP hardware technique a novel fatigue monitoring system is developed. The data track of tree rings can definitely and increasingly record the environmental characteristic of different environment growing condition, and this fatigue meter can record the local fatigue course: the amplitude of strain, the number of cycles and the stress state. Thus, it is convenient to realize the analysis of fatigue damage accumulation and give an early warning for structures.