ISSN: 1546-962X
CODEN: JAIOAD
Published Online: 9 September 2011
Page Count: 11

Application of Frequency Selective Circuits for Crack Detection in Concrete Elements

Pour-Ghaz, Mohammad
Assistant Professor, North Carolina State University,

Weiss, Jason
Purdue Univ., School of Civil Engineering,

(Received 16 February 2011; accepted 14 July 2011)

Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated that cracking can be monitored in concrete using conductive surface elements. One complication with using conductive surface elements is that each element requires a separate data acquisition channel. To overcome this hurdle, a frequency selective circuit (FSC) has been developed to rapidly and simultaneously interrogate the response of multiple conductive surface elements. The response of the FSC is analyzed using numerical methods and the use of the FSC is demonstrated using a pilot study in which conductive surface coatings were used to simultaneously monitor the time of cracking of multiple restrained concrete rings. Results indicate that the FSC can be used to monitor a large number of surface coating elements. This technology could be extended to other resistance based sensors. The FSC approach has the potential to be used for health monitoring of infrastructure elements where a large number of sensors are used.

Keywords:
conductive film, conductive surface, crack detection, cracking, damage detection, electrical impedance spectroscopy, equivalent circuit model, frequency filtering, frequency selective circuit, restrained shrinkage cracking, sensor, structural health monitoring

Paper ID: JAI103826
DOI: 10.1520/JAI103826
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