Abstract
Reinforced concrete is the most widely used construction material and thus effective condition assessment of reinforced concrete elements forms a significant part of structural health monitoring. An effective structural health monitoring system should be able to give the owner prior warning that structural elements are reaching conditions approaching either serviceability or ultimate limit states. The aim of this investigation is to compare strain data recorded during load testing of a reinforced concrete beam using Fibre optic Bragg Gratings (FBG) and a photographic technique to determine circumstances most suitable for the use of each of the techniques. The test results indicate that FBG sensors can be used to detect small strains as well as large strains in uncracked concrete elements, while optical images can be used to accurately map crack development over the surface area of the structure.
Highlights
The high cost associated with construction of large infrastructure motivates owners to extend the useable life of infrastructure, by means of condition assessment, maintenance and rehabilitation, as and when required
Reinforced concrete is the most widely used construction material, effective condition assessment of reinforced concrete elements forms a significant part of structural health monitoring
These results indicate that small deflection of structural elements can be accurately detected from a distance through image analysis
Summary
The high cost associated with construction of large infrastructure motivates owners to extend the useable life of infrastructure, by means of condition assessment, maintenance and rehabilitation, as and when required. Reinforced concrete is the most widely used construction material, effective condition assessment of reinforced concrete elements forms a significant part of structural health monitoring. Reinforced concrete elements are designed assuming that bending moments are resisted by concrete in areas of compression and steel in areas experiencing tensile stresses. Structures are designed assuming that concrete cannot resist tensile forces and crack widths of up to 0.3mm are acceptable under serviceability load conditions [1]. The observation of large deformations or crack widths exceeding specified limits would be seen as failure in terms of serviceability. An effective structural health monitoring system would be able to give the owner prior warning that structural elements are reaching a condition approaching serviceability or ultimate limit states
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