Development of a portable low-cost PC-independent accelerometer for multiple purposes
Modern seismographs are sensitive enough to record seismic waves with amplitudes as small as a few micrometers, but their manufacturing cost is also very high. This is a major difficulty when studying the dynamic response of buildings to earthquakes since usually large arrays of seismographs are ne...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Instituto de Investigación de Física
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Revista de Investigación de Física |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://revistasinvestigacion.unmsm.edu.pe/index.php/fisica/article/view/27881 |
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| Summary: | Modern seismographs are sensitive enough to record seismic waves with amplitudes as small as a few micrometers, but their manufacturing cost is also very high. This is a major difficulty when studying the dynamic response of buildings to earthquakes since usually large arrays of seismographs are needed to carry out such a study, making the affordability of this type of research in developing countries (regions where old or porrly-constructed buildings are more common) virtually impossible. In view of this problem, in this paper the prototype (named MiSismo) for an inexpensive PC-independent seismograph is presented, along with its most outstanding features (such as backup power system, sample rate selection, earthquake detection and email service), proposed applications and drawbacks. The sensitivity and noise density of the sensor of MiSismo (MMA8451Q, a MEMS accelerometer) are several orders of magnitude lower and higher respectively than those of the most commercially-available seismographs, but the manufacturing cost of MiSismo is also one order of magnitude lower. The performance of MiSismo was tested with real and simulated earthquakes. The results show that MiSismo can detect local earthquakes with magnitude as small as 4.8, and the data is clear enough to obtain the basic seismic parameters of moderate-to-large earthquakes. This characteristic of MiSismo could be useful for educational purposes. On the other hand, it was found that the measurements of MiSismo clearly detect the resonance effect on buildings, indicating that MiSismo could also be used for structural studies. Finally, the results of a simulated strong earthquake with subsequent blackout confirmed that the backup power system of MiSismo works perfectly since no loss of data was observed.
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| ISSN: | 1605-7724 1728-2977 |