Vol. 10, Special Issue, February 2011, pp.206-244

Experimental and Computational Performance Analysis of a Multi-Sensor Wireless Network System for Hurricane Monitoring   1Chelakara Subramanian, 1Gabriel Lapilli, 1Frederic Kreit, 2Jean-Paul Pinelli, 2Ivica Kostanic 1Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering 2Civil Engineering and Electrical & Computer Engineering Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL, 32901, USA E-mail: subraman@fit.edu, glapilli@my.fit.edu, fkreit@gmail.com, pinelli@fit.edu, kostanic@fit.edu     Received: 2 November 2010   /Accepted: 11 January 2011   /Published: 8 February 2011

Abstract: A wireless sensor network system was developed at Florida Institute of Technology to monitor wind induced pressure on low-rise residential building roofs during hurricane events. The system was tested to evaluate the performance of the sensors and their reliability to measure accurate pressure variations. The reliability of the pressure sensors is established by comparing measurements with secondary references and basic Bernoulli theory. The effects of sensor case, wind gusts, wind direction and structural vibration on the measured pressure are also presented. The system was tested in a wind tunnel, on top of a van on a highway road test, and at the University of Florida hurricane simulator. These tests revealed that the pressure readings were sensitive to mechanical vibrations and the sensor case shape, only when facing the windward direction. Some computational fluid dynamics analysis was also employed to verify the sensors performance and to develop reliable computational tools to simulate hurricane effects.

Keywords: Multi-pressure sensors; Wireless network; Hurricane monitoring; Full-scale test

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