Steel bridge fatigue crack detection with piezoelectric wafer active sensors

Abstract

Piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) are well known for its dual capabilities in structural health monitoring, acting as either actuators or sensors. Due to the variety of deterioration sources and locations of bridge defects, there is currently no single method that can detect and address the potential sources globally. In our research, our use of the PWAS based sensing has the novelty of implementing both passive (as acoustic emission) and active (as ultrasonic transducers) sensing with a single PWAS network. The combined schematic is using acoustic emission to detect the presence of fatigue cracks in steel bridges in their early stage since methods such as ultrasonics are unable to quantify the initial condition of crack growth since most of the fatigue life for these details is consumed while the fatigue crack is too small to be detected. Hence, combing acoustic emission with ultrasonic active sensing will strengthen the damage detection process. The integration of passive acoustic emission detection with active sensing will be a technological leap forward from the current practice of periodic and subjective visual inspection, and bridge management based primarily on history of past performance.In this study, extensive laboratory investigation is performed supported by theoretical modeling analysis. A demonstration system will be presented to show how piezoelectric wafer active sensor is used for acoustic emission. Specimens representing complex structures are tested. The results will also be compared with traditional acoustic emission transducers to identify the application barriers.

Dual Mode Sensing with Low-Profile Piezoelectric Thin Wafer Sensors for Steel Bridge Crack Detection and Diagnosis

“…The geometry of the specimens is displayed in Figure 7. Custom fixtures Y position versus X position versus energy ⟨all channels⟩ loc [2] (c) were designed and fabricated to mount the CT specimens. The cyclic tension loads of minimum 1 KN and maximum 50 KN were applied to the specimen using an MTS810 servohydraulic mechanical testing machine.…”

“…To address this urgent need, the authors are conducting research on novel and promising sensing approaches together with energy harvesting devices to reduce the dramatic uncertainty inherent into steel bridge inspection and maintenance plan [2]. One of the challenges in this research is focused on the development of dual use piezoelectric wafer active sensors for fatigue crack detection.…”

Quality Control of the Anchoring of Steel Bridge Barriers by Non-Destructive Testing

“…One of the diagnostic methods which is used widely both in mechanical engineering and in civil engineering is the ultrasonic method of testing [10][11][12][13]. There are several ultrasonic methods, and each of them is suitable for a different purpose.…”

Damage Detection and Localization from Dense Network of Strain Sensors

“…The literature counts successful application examples of sensor networks capable of damage diagnosis and localization after a strategic deployment. This includes piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) networks [5,6], as well as fiber opticsbased technologies [7][8][9]. Some authors have also studied the deployment of electrically conductive nanoparticle networks, such as carbon nanotubes, within cement-based materials, to detect local damage in structures [10][11][12].…”