Main website: https://infrascan.ai/
- Client portal: https://infrascan.ai/clients-portal
- Example monitoring dashboard: https://client4.infrascan.ai/
I want to walk through a topic that almost every building owner or property manager encounters sooner or later – cracks in structures.
It usually starts very simply: a crack appears, and the question is whether this is normal or something that requires action. The key point to understand from the beginning is this: a crack by itself does not automatically mean a problem.
A crack is not a diagnosis. It is an indicator of how a structure behaves over time and in space.
Where cracks come from
Buildings are not perfectly static. Over time, they:
- settle slightly,
- redistribute loads,
- respond to temperature changes,
- adapt to real operating conditions.
Even when nothing seems to change visually, the structure is still “working.” That’s why GNSS sensors are often used in monitoring – to understand whether the building is moving as a system, and whether there are vertical or horizontal displacements or tilts.
GNSS provides a global picture of building behavior. But almost always, the next logical question follows.
What is happening at a specific location?
Once it is clear that a building as a whole is moving or adapting, the question becomes: how does this movement manifest locally – in walls, slabs, joints, and connections?
In this sense, cracks are not a problem but a point of observation. They are locations where the structure shows how it responds to loads and environmental changes.
To understand that response, a crack must be measured, not just observed.
What a crack meter is and what it measures
A crack meter is a sensor installed directly across a crack to measure its opening over time.
In essence, it measures the relative displacement between two points of a structure separated by the crack.
What matters is that this measurement happens in physical space, not as a vague “more or less” assessment.
Measuring in space: how it works
From an engineering perspective, a crack meter operates in a local coordinate system:
- the primary measurement is along the crack opening direction (local X-axis),
- linear displacement between the two sides of the crack is recorded,
- data is correlated with time and external conditions.
As a result, the crack stops being a visual defect and becomes a measurable geometric parameter.
Practical crack meter testing: 48 hours of observation
To see how a crack meter behaves under real operating conditions, we conducted continuous testing over approximately two days.
The goal was practical rather than experimental: to understand how crack opening changes over time and how external factors influence that behavior.
What was measured
During the test:
- the crack meter measured crack opening (relative displacement),
- additional parameters were recorded in parallel:
All parameters were analyzed together rather than in isolation.
Crack opening changes over 2 days
Over the observation period, crack opening:
- varied within approximately 1.1–1.3 mm,
- changed smoothly, without sudden jumps,
- showed no chaotic behavior.
This is important because it indicates stable, interpretable dynamics, rather than random noise.
Temperature and its influence
During the test, temperature varied approximately:
- from 5–6 °C at the lower end,
- to 22–25 °C at the upper end.
The graphs clearly show that crack opening followed the temperature cycle. This is typical behavior for most building materials and points to thermal deformation, not structural damage.
The role of humidity
Relative humidity:
- remained roughly within 55–95%,
- changed more slowly and with noticeable time lag.
Humidity served as a background parameter, helping to understand whether environmental conditions influenced crack behavior with a delayed effect.
Vibration analysis
Vibration was recorded as background dynamic loading.
During the test, vibration levels:
- remained within a stable range,
- showed no sharp peaks,
- were approximately 0.87–0.93 vb, indicating low-amplitude oscillations.
Importantly:
- short-term vibration changes did not cause noticeable jumps in crack opening,
- dynamic loading was not the dominant factor in this scenario.
This helps separate vibration effects from temperature-driven or long-term structural behavior.
Why analyzing everything together matters
The main value of this testing lies not in individual numbers, but in combined analysis.
In practice, this allows you to:
- distinguish thermal deformation from structural change,
- understand whether behavior is reversible,
- identify whether a long-term accumulating trend exists.
This is how crack meters are used in real projects – not as alarm devices, but as tools for understanding structural behavior.
Practical use within infrascan.ai
Within infrascan.ai, crack meters are part of a unified monitoring system.
Data:
- is collected automatically,
- displayed as time-based graphs,
- analyzed together with other sensor inputs,
- allows structural behavior to be tracked without constant site visits.
Final takeaway
Cracks are a normal part of the life cycle of most buildings. The real question is not whether they exist, but how they behave over time and in space.
Crack meters move cracks from the realm of emotion into the realm of measurement and understanding.
Where to learn more
- Main website: https://infrascan.ai/
- Client portal: https://infrascan.ai/clients-portal
- Example monitoring dashboard: https://client4.infrascan.ai/
