Deflection determination of concrete structures considering nonlinearity based on long-gauge strain sensors

Deflection determination of concrete structures using distributed long-gauge strain sensors is investigated in this paper. Firstly, the relationship between deflection and distributed long-gauge strain of concrete beams is presented, and the method is independent of external load and takes account of structural nonlinearity. The deflection distribution along the span of a beam-like structure can be predicted from strain response for the whole process of loading (elastic stage, concrete cracking stage and steel yielding stage). Secondly, experiment of a reinforced concrete beam has been conducted to verify the accuracy of the method. Experimental results show that the relative error between the estimated and actual deflection can be controlled within about 5% while the error can reach up to about 70% if structural nonlinearity is not considered. Finally, the influence of error of material parameters and sensor gauge length on deflection estimation has been analyzed. The error of concrete compression strength has a limited influence on deflection prediction while the contribution of tensile concrete should be considered before concrete cracking. The error of area of tensile bars will affect the deflection accuracy after concrete cracking.