The idea of the intelligent or smart system, originally applied to electrical, mechanical, or aerospace systems, recently has been extended to include civil structures as advances in sensing, networking, and new materials have made continuous monitoring and control of structural functions a realizable goal. By definition, the intelligent structure has the capability to identify its status and optimally adapt its function to stimuli. The majority of research focused on the intelligent civil structure has been in two areas: (1) identification of structural behavior or properties (e.g., deformation, energy usage, damage evaluation); and (2) control of structural response to external (e.g., wind, earthquake) or internal (e.g., acoustics, temperature variation) stimuli. Due to the complexities of civil structures, such as massive size, presence of nonstructural components, subjection to random excitations, and diverse functionality, investigation of the intelligent civil system has become a challenging and fruitful research area. Some recent catastrophic structural failures due to natural events (such as the California earthquakes, hurricanes in the Southeast, and blizzards in the Northeast and Midwest) have amply demonstrated the need for rapid assessment of structural integrity after such events as well as a need to control and minimize damage.

The concept and development of intelligent structures has been the focus of recent research in both the U.S. and abroad. Much of this research has been directed towards the development of active control systems for structures subjected to extreme external excitations with the primary objective of maintaining structural and occupant safety. With recent advances in micromachined sensors, wireless communications devices and improved imbedded computation tools, considerable attention has also been focused on the development of near-real time damage monitoring systems. Furthermore, the development of distributed actuation systems together with better sensors and microprocessors, are providing the tools for achieving optimal levels of controlled structural functionality. Advanced materials complements and expands the research on intelligent structures. Such materials include smart materials fabricated to incorporate embedded computing tools such as sensors and microprocessors, but they also include new classes of structural materials that offer the opportunity to revolutionize many aspects of civil engineering construction. High-performance materials can be introduced as building media for entire structures or selectively used in critical components of a structure. Examples of the former include applications of high-performance steels, concrete, or fiber reinforced plastics for structural frames, cement-based soil-mixing for site modification, etc. Examples of the latter might include special protective-devices, such as seismic isolators and dampers, geosynthetic membranes, etc. These new materials provide important opportunities for the design of new structures and the rehabilitation of aging or damaged structures. These materials promise easier, less costly, and more durable construction than conventional materials.

Current research activities have been focused on both the development of wireless sensing devices, fibre-optic sensing, (near-real time) damage assessment methods and distributed control strategies and algorithms. Research challenges in advanced structural material include improving understanding of material behavior through complementary testing and multi-scale simulation, developing new materials by both enhancing conventional construction materials and introducing new advanced materials, and, last but not least, developing design methodologies and criteria that will enable effective utilization of new materials in design and construction. This area of research crosses over several fields of expertise and requires that the research from these fields be integrated in a coherent manner. For example, the design of an imbedded damage monitoring or actively controlled system requires expertise in sensor technology, radio transmission and communication, advanced computational methods, nonlinear structural dynamic behavior. smart materials, and the design of modern software and hardware systems. There is a strong active collaborative research activities with Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Material Science and Engineering, and Aeronautics and Astronautics.