Experimental Investigation on Sensitivity of Smart Aggregate Embedded in Reinforced Concrete Beam

Abstract

Electromechanical impedance (EMI) based lead zirconate titanate (PZT) is an effective sensor to ensure the safety of structure. In civil engineering community, Reinforced Concrete (RC) structure is one of the most familiar engineering structures. Hence, it is very important to monitor the health of structure. In this paper, a new approach of structural health monitoring using embedded PZT in host structure is proposed. There are several issues while embedding PZT inside RC structure which are examined during study. This paper presents two experimental studies on lab sized concrete beams. First implementation was carried out with different methods of embedment of PZT and its sensitivity study when the host structure was subjected to damage. The second implementation was verified in terms of conductance sensitivity of embedded Smart Aggregate (SMAG) in varying orientation i.e. horizontal (0˚) and vertical (90˚) after embedding in RC beam.