Ozgur Yapar: Bridge Infrastructure and Health Monitoring

Structural mechanicals and materials research in how to extend the life of our nation's declining bridge infrastructure using composite patch materials is one component of graduate student Ozgur ("Oz") Yapar's research in Civil Engineering at Vanderbilt University. This research, funded by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) and guided by Dr. P.K. Basu, was focused on rapid repair of damaged bridges using composite patches.
Oz is also working on a National Science Foundation (NSF) project for real-time monitoring of bridge "health" using acoustic emission techniques. Using sensors to collect acoustic image data, the researchers have developed a module to "harvest" energy from bridge vibrations, and designed a data acquisition system to collect that data wirelessly. For more information visit www.cee.vanderbilt.edu