title: Design and application of a field sensing system for ground anchors in slopes.
abstract: In a ground anchor system, cables or tendons connected to a bearing plate are used for stabilization of slopes. Then, the stability of a slope is dependent on maintaining the tension levels in the cables. So far, no research on a strain-based field sensing system for ground anchors has been reported. Therefore, in this study, a practical monitoring system for long-term sensing of tension levels in tendons for anchor-reinforced slopes is proposed. The system for anchor-reinforced slopes is composed of: (1) load cells based on vibrating wire strain gauges (VWSGs), (2) wireless sensor nodes which receive and process the signals from load cells and then transmit the result to a master node through local area communication, (3) master nodes which transmit the data sent from sensor nodes to the server through mobile communication, and (4) a server located at the base station. The system was applied to field sensing of ground anchors in the 62 m-long and 26 m-high slope at the side of the highway. Based on the long-term monitoring, the safety of the anchor-reinforced slope can be secured by the timely applications of re-tensioning processes in tendons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Architectural Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Korea. watercloud@yonsei.ac.kr
authors.forename: Se Woon
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Jihoon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jong Moon
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyo Seon
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D059015:Wireless Technology