Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to common questions about structural health monitoring and how StructureIQ works.
General
What is structural health monitoring (SHM)?
Structural health monitoring is the use of sensors and data analytics to continuously track the condition of a building, bridge, or other structure, detecting vibration, tilt, changes in dynamic response, and deterioration continuously rather than relying on periodic manual inspections.
How is StructureIQ different from manual inspections?
Manual inspections check a structure’s condition at a single point in time, often months or years apart, and can miss gradual damage like the hidden stiffness loss that precedes visible damage. StructureIQ’s wireless sensors monitor continuously, so early-stage deterioration and event-driven damage (earthquakes, impacts) are flagged automatically, often within hours instead of weeks.
How has StructureIQ’s technology been validated in the field?
StructureIQ’s technology has been proven in real deployments, not just lab testing. When a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Michoacán, Mexico in September 2022, StructureIQ’s SHM system installed at an IKEA store in Mexico City delivered automated safety alerts and structural analysis to building managers within hours, giving an automated safety clearance in a fraction of the time a manual re-inspection would normally take. Other validated deployments include cable tension monitoring on the Ain Dubai, the Jindo Bridge in South Korea, and impact grading on Class I rail bridges.
Insurance
How is StructureIQ used in insurance underwriting?
Insurers use StructureIQ’s continuous structural data to move from static, inspection-based risk models to a continuously updated Structural Condition Index. This supports more precise underwriting and faster claims verification after an event.
What data gap does StructureIQ fill for insurance underwriters?
Underwriters typically bind policies using standard COPE (Construction, Occupancy, Protection, Exposure) submission data, which misses a building’s actual structural condition. StructureIQ fills that gap with continuous, building-specific data on tilt, drift, and modal frequency, reducing adverse selection, underpricing, and accumulation risk across a portfolio.
How does StructureIQ help with insurance claims after an event?
StructureIQ captures time-stamped structural baselines before an event and delta reports after one, so insurers can distinguish pre-existing conditions from event-caused damage. This speeds up coverage decisions, reduces causation disputes, and lowers loss adjustment expenses.
What does a StructureIQ insurance pilot involve?
Start with a structured pilot: a defined group of insured locations, success criteria agreed up front, and a decision date. We install, monitor and report; your team judges the result against the criteria.
Construction
Can StructureIQ monitor buildings during construction, not just after completion?
Yes. StructureIQ’s Sentinel AI platform can be deployed during the construction phase itself, capturing load responses, material performance, and environmental effects from the earliest stages of a project rather than waiting until the structure is complete and periodic inspections begin.
What risks does structural monitoring help catch during construction?
Continuous sensing during construction can reveal how a structure actually behaves under real loading as it’s built, surfacing unexpected load responses or material performance issues early, when they’re far less costly to address than after the building is finished and occupied.
Bridges
How does StructureIQ monitor bridges?
StructureIQ deploys wireless Xnode accelerometers across a bridge’s full structure, including deck spans, girders, pier caps, bearing assemblies, and abutments, capturing continuous dynamic response data and delivering real-time structural condition intelligence through the Sentinel AI platform.
Can StructureIQ tell if a bridge has been struck by a vehicle?
Yes. StructureIQ provides real-time impact assessment for bridges, which is especially valuable for low-clearance spans that are prone to vehicle strikes. Owners and railroads can quickly distinguish minor hits from structurally significant impacts, avoiding unnecessary closures on bridges that see thousands of collisions industry-wide each year.
Does StructureIQ work on pedestrian bridges, or just vehicle bridges?
StructureIQ monitors both. Pedestrian bridges face their own silent structural risks, such as vibration and fatigue in suspension and truss footbridges, and StructureIQ’s dense sensor arrays and automated alerts are designed to catch that damage before it becomes visible or dangerous.
AI & Technology
What is Sentinel AI?
Sentinel AI is StructureIQ’s analytics platform, built on over a decade of structural health monitoring research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. It converts raw sensor data into the Structural Condition Index (SCI), threshold-based alerts, and portfolio-level dashboards for asset owners, engineers, and insurers.
How does StructureIQ’s sensor technology work?
StructureIQ deploys the Xnode, a wireless smart sensor with a high-resolution accelerometer, directly onto structural elements. No coring or wiring is required. Sensors stream data over a cellular network to StructureIQ’s Sentinel AI platform, which distinguishes routine loading from genuine structural events.
What is the Structural Condition Index (SCI)?
The SCI is Sentinel AI’s core output: a continuous, normalized 0 to 100 score per asset. The dashboard displays it against three defined ranges: Healthy, Watch and At Risk. It’s sector-agnostic, so it works the same way across buildings, bridges, offshore platforms, and industrial structures.
How does Sentinel AI avoid false alarms?
Before any alert is generated, Sentinel AI normalizes and detrends incoming sensor data in the platform, not on the sensor, then uses machine learning to classify genuine structural events separately from routine ambient noise like wind, traffic, or process vibration. This helps engineers and underwriters focus on the alerts that matter.
Sensors & Installation
How is StructureIQ different from traditional building monitoring that uses wired sensors?
Traditional wired SHM systems require running physical cabling to every sensor location, often meaning drilling, conduit, and significant disruption to a structure’s operations. StructureIQ’s Xnode sensors are wireless: they attach directly to structural elements and stream data over a long-range wireless link (up to 1 km line-of-sight) to a gateway, then on to the cloud over a cellular network. Up to 48 sensors per gateway are synchronized to under 20 microseconds.
How are StructureIQ Xnode sensors installed, magnetically or mounted?
Both, the mounting method depends on the surface. Xnode sensors ship with an included magnetic mount, ideal for fast, temporary deployment on steel structures like beams and girders. For other surfaces, StructureIQ also offers a clamp mount for cables, an adhesive plate for flat concrete or composite surfaces where drilling isn’t possible, and screw mounting for wooden beams, certain concrete surfaces, or high-vibration environments. In every case, sensors are placed on load-bearing structural elements, not decorative or non-structural features.
How are StructureIQ Xnode sensors powered?
Each Xnode sensor has an internal 10,000 mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery, charged from a 5V DC external source, either a wall charger or a solar panel. Building deployments typically use a wall charger plugged into a standard outlet, while bridge and remote deployments typically use the included solar panel. The sensor’s IP67-rated, weatherproof enclosure supports continuous operation from -20°C to 60°C (-4°F to 140°F).
Security
What is StructureIQ’s overall approach to cybersecurity and data protection?
- Sensor data is encrypted in transit.
- Each customer’s data is kept separate from other customers’ data.
- Data processing terms are available on request.
Oil & Gas Infrastructure
What types of oil and gas infrastructure does StructureIQ monitor?
StructureIQ is designed to monitor LNG terminals (storage tank foundations, cryogenic pipe racks, marine jetties and loading arms), offshore oil platforms (jacket and topside structures, risers, and mooring systems), and onshore oil pipelines (pump station foundations, above-ground pipe supports, river and road crossings, and tank farm foundations), giving operators continuous structural condition data across the full oil and gas value chain.
Why is continuous monitoring important for oil and gas assets specifically?
Oil and gas infrastructure faces some of the most demanding structural conditions in any industry: cryogenic thermal cycling at LNG terminals, wave and current loading plus marine corrosion on offshore platforms, and ground movement, external corrosion, and pressure surges along pipelines. These stresses often develop out of sight and are missed by periodic manual inspection. Continuous sensing catches early-stage deterioration and event-driven damage, such as seismic activity or vessel and vehicle impacts, that inspections conducted months apart cannot.
How much can unplanned downtime cost, and how does SHM help avoid it?
Unplanned downtime is one of the costliest risks in oil and gas operations. StructureIQ’s real-time alerts and automated anomaly detection give operators early warning of developing issues, enabling proactive maintenance instead of reactive, costly shutdowns.
Can StructureIQ’s sensors be installed without disrupting active operations?
Yes. Xnode sensors are wireless and require no coring, cabling, or hot work, so they can be mounted directly on structural elements such as tanks, pipe racks, platform members, and pump station foundations with minimal disruption to ongoing operations. Data streams over a secure cellular connection to the Sentinel AI dashboard.
How quickly can operators respond after a seismic event, vessel strike, or other impact?
Sentinel AI sends an immediate exceedance alert after an impact or seismic event, followed by a full structural engineering event report within 24 hours, giving engineering and operations teams objective performance data to make faster, more confident decisions about returning an asset to service, reducing unnecessary shutdowns while still catching genuine damage.