Triboluminescent optical nerves for smart concrete structures
Abstract
In-situ and real time structural health monitoring is critical for ensu ring the safety of users and for extending the useful life of our aged and overlo aded civil infrastructure systems like concrete bridges and dams. The development of the insitu triboluminescent optical fiber (ITOF) sensor may provide concrete structures with these capabilities. Two types of cement-based composites with integrated ITOF sensors were fabricated and tested under flex ural loading. Real time fail u re detection was demonstrated in mortar beams while real time damage m onitoring was demonstrated in reinforced concrete (RC) beams. For all sample s tested, significant and distinctive jump in the triboluminescent (TL) signal values were detected at the instance of failure in mortar beams and crackin g in RC beams. Analysis of the TL si gnal profiles from the brittle failure of the mortar beams revealed multiple peaks indicative of multiple TL emissions that provided evidence of the sensor's ability to sense rapidly propagating crack during mortar failure. TL signals were observed at the instance of crack for mation (damage) in the t ested RC beams that provided early warning of system's degradation before failure.
Publication Title
Structural Health Monitoring 2013: A Roadmap to Intelligent Structures - Proceedings of the 9th International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring, IWSHM 2013
Recommended Citation
Olawale, D., Kliewer, K., Dickens, T., Uddin, M., & Okoli, O. (2013). Triboluminescent optical nerves for smart concrete structures. Structural Health Monitoring 2013: A Roadmap to Intelligent Structures - Proceedings of the 9th International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring, IWSHM 2013, 1, 1376-1383. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/facpubs/19474
