Extensometer in Construction

Accurately measure and monitor ground settlement, structural displacement, and material strain

Get the Most Out of Your Extensometer with Inzwa Cloud:

Inzwa Cloud provides an all-in-one, plug-and-play solution for managing sensors in construction and geotechnical projects. The platform is compatible with many sensors and data loggers and offers round-the-clock remote data access, user-friendly visualizations, and customizable alerts via SMS and email. It streamlines workflows with pre-designed dashboards, automated reporting templates, and third-party hosting capabilities. Additionally, users can create custom formulas for advanced calculations across multiple devices, ensuring efficient, tailored groundwater monitoring.

What are Extensometers?

An extensometer is a device used to measure the deformation or strain of a material under stress, such as during tensile, compressive, or flexural testing. In construction and geotechnical applications, extensometers monitor structural deformation, ground settlement, and strain in materials, ensuring safety and stability. With the precise data from extensometers, engineers can assess performance, prevent failures, and optimize designs for the long-term reliability of construction materials, foundations, and soil.

Leading extensometer manufacturers are known for their reliability and performance across varied settings. Here are the top three manufacturers:

Instron
ZwickRoell
MTS Systems Corporation

Epsilon Technology Corp., RST Instruments, Roctest, Encardio Rite, Geosense, and Geomotion are other leading extensometer manufacturers.

How Extensometers are used in Construction:

Extensometers play a vital role in construction by measuring deformation, strain, or displacement in materials and structures, providing essential data to ensure safety and stability. They are commonly used to monitor structural elements like beams, columns, and retaining walls to detect potential issues under load. Extensometers can alert engineers to the increased risk of land subsidence, structural instability, foundation settlement, and aquifer compaction faults. Additionally, in geotechnical applications, extensometers track ground settlement or heave, displacement in tunnels, and deformation in dams, levees, foundations, or embankments, helping engineers make informed decisions during and after construction.

Contact and Non-Contact Extensometers: What’s the Difference?

Several types of extensometers are used in geotechnical monitoring, each suited for specific measurements and conditions. Contact extensometers are typically more traditional and hands-on, while non-contact extensometers are more advanced and interference-free.

Contact Extensometers

These physically attach to the specimen or structure using clips, anchors, or other mechanisms. They directly measure displacement by remaining in contact with the material, offering reliability but requiring careful handling to avoid interference during tests or monitoring.

Types of contact extensometers include:

Mechanical Extensometers: Attach directly to the material or structure to measure axial strain during testing or monitoring.
Open-tube Piezometers: Use physical anchors and reference points to measure displacement in boreholes or structural elements.
Magnetic Extensometers: Measure settlement or heave in soil using magnetic targets along a borehole.

Non-Contact Extensometers

These use optical or laser technology to measure deformation without physically touching the material. They are ideal for applications where high precision or minimal interference is required, such as in high-temperature or high-strain environments.

Types of non-contact extensometers include:

Integrate with Any Sensor

Inzwa Cloud is device agnostic, so you can seamlessly integrate with all your geotechnical instrumentation – without the long configuration time and even longer learning curve of other vibration monitoring systems. Alternatively, Test your devices by creating a free account on our platform.

Construction Site Case Studies

Construction Vibration Monitoring While Pile Driving on Lake Michigan

“I could see clear rises in vibration levels with each pile being driven. PPV levels remained well below the parameters of the project, which gave us all peace of mind that the home’s structural integrity was not compromised. And the data is captured for future use, should it be needed.“