Hong Kong Housing Society (TL)
Hip Hing Engineering Company Limited (contract service)
A recent tower crane accident at the construction site on Anderson Road has caused human casualties. This raises the general public and the Government’s concern about crane safety during operations. Metal fatigue is one of the leading causes of the failure of the tower crane. It would be highly desirable that mechanisms can be implemented to regularly monitor any abnormal behavior of the structural integrity of the tower cranes; and at the same time provide means to predict the remaining service lifetime of the tower crane based on the workload and operation behavior, which could prompt relevant parties to perform necessary maintenance works. In response to the need for safer crane operations, ASTRI aims to develop a Photonics Enabled AI Crane Structural Health Monitoring System which includes an on-site peak-zone data acquisition sub-system, and an image-based geometric feature estimation sub-system. The image-based geometric feature estimation sub-system monitors the entire tower crane structure and detects if there is any static and dynamic abnormal behavior based on the image analysis; whereas the peak-zone data acquisition sub-system, on the other hand, monitors the structural parameters of the tower crane at specifically selected locations using fiber-optics sensors. These locations are based on structural simulation and analysis from the tower crane structural model. With these two sub-systems, regular monitoring of the structural health of the tower crane in both macro and micro aspects can be achieved. Moreover, the structure health parameters along with the tower crane's operational parameters and environmental parameters are being processed off-site to collect and predict the statistics of the damage to the essential structural members of the tower crane. Based on these structural damage statistics, the remaining service life of the structural members of the tower crane can be evaluated with a standardized metal fatigue estimation methodology. With enhanced monitoring and predictive capabilities of the proposed system, we can proactively safeguard construction sites and protect the well-being of workers and the general public. This technology enhances safety, efficiency, and effectiveness in the construction industry, specifically, in the tower crane operation.
