Strain Measurement in a Reinforced Concrete Beam Using Embedded Smart Concrete Sensors

The paper is aimed at investigating the use of embedded smart concrete sensors for monitoring the strain in full-scale reinforced concrete beams. The new sensors are made of the same matrix material of the concrete elements to be monitored and can be easily embedded into structural components before casting, thus achieving a durable and distributed sensing solution for structural health monitoring purposes. The self-monitoring ability is obtained through the dispersion of nano-metric conductive carbon-based fillers which induce new piezoresistive properties. In this study, a set of smart concrete sensors was embedded on top of a simply supported reinforced concrete beam and the dynamic performance of the element was evaluated, by measuring the variation in electrical resistance of the smart concrete sensors and benchmarked against measurements carried out with traditional strain gauges. The results of such comparisons demonstrate that the new sensors are apt for strain monitoring in RC structural components.