Abstract
The use of structural health monitoring systems for civil structures is ever expanding, and by assessing the dynamical condition of structures, informed maintenance management can be conducted at both individual and network levels. With the continued growth of information age technology, the potential arises for smart monitoring systems to be integrated with civil infrastructure to provide efficient information on the condition of a structure. In this regard, energy harvesting techniques have immense potential to form an integral part of wireless sensor networks (WSN) through the harvesting of energy from the host civil structure and provide a continuous, renewable energy supply for the WSN node. This chapter focuses on this problem, investigating the integration of energy harvesting devices with civil infrastructure. While there has been considerable focus on the development and optimization of such devices using steady state loading conditions, their applications for civil infrastructure are less known. Although research is still in the initial stages, studies into the uses associated with such applications are very promising. A model bridge is considered, and the through the use of the dynamical response of the bridge to a variety of train loading conditions, the energy harvesting outputs from such devices is established and the potential energy output determined.
