Real-Time Monitoring of Early-Age Concrete Strength Using Piezoceramic-Based Smart Aggregates
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 32, Issue 1
Abstract
It is well known that concrete is the most common type of structural material, and a proper estimation of concrete strength in its early age can provide guidance for staged concrete construction and ensure the load-bearing capacity of concrete structures during construction and service periods. In this study, an active sensing approach integrated with piezoceramic-based transducers called smart aggregates (SAs) was experimentally investigated to estimate the strength development of the entire early-age (0th h to 28th day) concrete in real time. A pair of SAs was embedded in a reinforced concrete specimen prior to casting. During the 28 days of the curing period, one SA was employed as an actuator to periodically generate a designed stress wave that propagated along the specimen; meanwhile, the other SA was applied as a sensor to detect stress waves. The wave responses of the SA sensor were recorded and analyzed during the 28-day testing period. The experimental results demonstrate that the magnitude of the detected stress wave in the concrete increased with the strength of the concrete in the 28-day curing period. In addition, a hydration monitoring index was established and compared to the previous results of the 28-day concrete strength curve obtained by standard compressive tests. The proposed hydration monitoring index and the 28-day concrete strength curve show similar trends, which indicates that the proposed method has the potential to estimate early-age concrete strength in real time.
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Acknowledgments
This work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51608493, 51708520, 51478080, and 51278084), the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (Grant No. 2017CFB509), the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program, Grant No. 2015CB057704), and the Director Foundation of the Institute of Seismology, China Earthquake Administration (Grant Nos. IS201626258, IS201626268, and IS201616250). The authors would like to thank these institutions for their financial support.
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Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 32 • Issue 1 • January 2019
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 21, 2017
Accepted: May 25, 2018
Published online: Sep 17, 2018
Published in print: Jan 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Feb 17, 2019
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