Sally, a Robot for Measuring Piezoelectric Joint Sensor Characteristics

　　Steel structures are regarded as earthquake-resistant structures. However, many steel structures are constructed using frame-welded joints of fillet-welded construction and welded column bases. These weld joints can have low capacity for absorbing energy during earthquakes. Therefore, during the design process of steel structures that use welded joints, strong earthquake-resistance characteristics must be considered especially for welded column bases. Moreover, measurements using piezoelectric joint sensors are recommended for evaluation of the long-term performance of these structures.

 

Piezoelectric joint sensor

 

Sally

　　Sally is a robot that measures the sensor characteristics of a piezoelectric joint sensor.
Sally is 700 cm long, 45 cm wide and 30 cm deep, and consists of a drive pulse motor, column, horizontal column, load cell, displacement meter, sensor mount, control PC, and logger measuring instrument.

 

 

　　As explained in reports of this research, we will describe results obtained from evaluation of the resistance load and displacement characteristics of a piezoelectric joint sensor using a sensor measurement robot, SALLY. The introduction of the sensor measurement robot has reduced the working hours necessary for measurement experiments of sensor characteristics to about 1/19, which is expected to boost the cycle of sensor improvements in the future considerably