Tunable mechanical monolithic sensors for real-time broadband monitoring of large civil infrastructures

This paper describes the application of the monolithic UNISA Folded Pendulum, optimized as inertial sensor (seismometer) for low frequency characterization of sites (including underground sites) and structures (e.g. buildings, bridges, historical monuments), but, in general, for applications requiring large band low-frequency performances coupled with high sensitivities. The main characteristics of this class of sensors are high sensitivity, large measurement band, compactness, lightness, scalability, tunability of the resonance frequency, low thermal noise and very good immunity to environmental noises. The horizontal and vertical versions of folded pendulum allow an effective state-of-the-art mechanical implementation of triaxial sensors, configurable both as seismometer and/or as accelerometer.