Inclinometers and Tiltmeters

Inclinometers and tilt meters are widely used in civil engineering to monitor ground movements and structural displacement/tilting.

The most common applications are: Landslides, Dams, Unstable slopes, Pile testing, Retaining structures and Diaphragm walls, Tunneling, Deep excavations, Bridges, viaducts and other structures, Embankments.

With the inclinometers, ground movements are monitored by installing special grooved inclinometer tubes into vertical or horizontal borehole. Inclinometer tubes will take the deformation of the ground, so by measuring the tube deflection also the ground displacement is monitored.
Sisgeo supply different models of inclinometer tube that shall be selected in function of the installation depth, soil layers type, possible chemical and physical impacts. ABS inclinometer casings are highly recommended for their resistance and inertness to chemical agents and leakage currents. Aluminium tubes are suggested for very deep installation (i.e. depth > 150m).

Inclinometer tubes are surveyed using digital MEMS inclinometer system or by using a chain of in-place inclinometers (IPI). The digital MEMS inclinometer system basically consists of a MEMS inclinometer probe, a portable readout unit (Archimede), a graduated cable on a winch and the data analysis software.

Vertical and horizontal In-Place Inclinometers (referred to as IPI) are designed for automatic monitoring of critical locations or where continuous monitoring of the displacements is requested. They are available with both analogue MEMS-type sensors or digital MEMS-type sensors. For continuous borehole monitoring, BH profile in-place inclinometers are required.

Tilt meters are required to monitor inclination/rotation of civil structures. Tilt meters are available in different models with both MEMS or servo accelerometers, uniaxial or biaxial, digital or analogue signal. 

For common structural tilt monitoring, TILLI, the portable tiltmeter is the optimal solution. Place the TILLI on the preinstalled measuring plate and take a reading using the portable readout unit.