The present work is meant at contributing to the innovation of the current methodologies for pedestrian bridge monitoring. Specifically, the use of vibrational energy harvesters for self-powered wireless structural monitoring of footbridges is here advanced for the first time, and a novel sensorless strategy is also proposed to survey remotely their serviceability conditions. In this perspective, comprehensive computer-aided numerical investigations are initially conducted to obtain statistical estimates of the electrical energy generated from a composite piezoelectric cantilever beam subjected to the vertical footbridge response under the passage of walkers. In doing so, randomness related to the pedestrians' dynamics and footbridges with different modal features are taken into account. An investigation based on experimental data is finally presented. In detail, one case study is concerned with a footbridge prone to large vibrations due to quasi pedestrian–structure resonance condition while the second one deals with a stiffer footbridge experiencing low excitation levels. Ultimately, this study indicates that energy harvesting from vertical pedestrian-induced vibrations can be a promising strategy for footbridges monitoring, and it provides useful design guidelines in this regard.

中文翻译：

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从人行天桥的垂直行人引起的振动中收集能量用于智能监控应用的可行性

目前的工作旨在为当前行人天桥监测方法的创新做出贡献。具体而言，首次使用振动能量收集器对人行桥进行自供电无线结构监测，并且还提出了一种新的无传感器策略来远程调查其可使用性条件。从这个角度来看，最初进行了全面的计算机辅助数值研究，以获得在步行者通过时受到垂直人行桥响应的复合压电悬臂梁产生的电能的统计估计。在此过程中，考虑了与行人动态和具有不同模态特征的人行天桥相关的随机性。最后提出了基于实验数据的调查。具体而言，一个案例研究涉及由于准行人结构共振条件而容易发生大振动的人行天桥，而第二个案例研究涉及经历低激励水平的较硬人行天桥。最终，这项研究表明，从垂直行人引起的振动中收集能量可以成为行人天桥监测的一种有前途的策略，并在这方面提供了有用的设计指南。