Structural health monitoring of reinforced concrete beams under repeated loading

Abstract

In structural engineering, structural health monitoring (SHM) has gained popularity as a technique for examining loads, straining actions, environmental factors, and structural behavior under various loads. In this paper, the effect of damage induced in reinforced concrete beams under repeated loading is experimentally investigated. More precisely, eight beams are used to investigate their ductility and energy dissipation as well as to assess the feasibility of using the wireless sensor technique in the SHM processes of the structure. Resensys SenSpot™ sensors are used for developing the wireless SHM system for this study. The defects experimentally induced include the development of cracks at the bottom middle span, the voids at the concrete mold, and the partially unbonded steel at the middle bottom reinforcement. All of the beams, each with a rectangular cross section with identical dimensions of 200 mm by 300 mm and a length of 2000 mm, are tested using the three-point bending load. LVDTs and wireless tilting sensors are mounted on the eight test specimens. The findings show that any type of damage significantly reduces the ultimate capacities and the results from the Resensys SenScope™ system concur with those from the experimental findings.