Monitoring structure movement in 3D
The South West Regional Development Agency (RDA) has awarded a £50,000 grant to Bristol-based Imetrum to develop a 3D system that will monitor movement of structures such as buildings and bridges.
The company, based in Flax Bourton, currently makes a 2D system, which is used to assess the properties of materials during their design and manufacture.
Having secured more than 50 material testing orders from high-profile companies such as Airbus and Rolls Royce, Imetrum will use the grant to develop the first 3D product specifically tailored to monitoring structures.
Using real-time digital-video processing, it will give engineers a better knowledge of the way structures behave and move when a load, such as a car on a bridge, is applied. It will also measure the effects of different environmental conditions, for example wind and temperature.
As well as being used in civil-engineering projects, such as bridges, dams and buildings, the system could also be used in the automotive and aircraft industries to test large structural components, such as car chassis and aircraft fuselages.
Because of the UK’s ageing infrastructure, hundreds of bridges, dams and public buildings need to be tested regularly for safety and to develop more efficient maintenance strategies.
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