Detecting Debonding between Steel Beam and Reinforcing CFRP Plate Using Active Sensing with Removable PZT-Based Transducers.

Jian Jiang,Xiaowei Deng,Zifeng Deng,Jinwei Jiang

doi:10.3390/s20010041

Abstract

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates are widely used to retrofit or reinforce steel structures, and the debonding damage between the steel structure and the CFRP plate is a typical failure in strengthening steel structures. This paper proposes a new approach to detecting debonding between a steel beam and a reinforcing CFRP plate by using removable lead zirconate titanate (PZT)-based transducers and active sensing. The removable PZT-based transducers are used to implement the active sensing approach, in which one transducer, as an actuator, is used to generate stress wave, and another transducer, as a sensor, is used to detect the stress wave that propagates across the bonding between the steel beam and the reinforcing CFRP plate. The bonding condition significantly influences the received sensor signal, and a wavelet-packet-based energy index (WPEI) is used to quantify the energy of the received signal to evaluate the severity of debonding between the steel beam and the reinforcing CFRP plate. To validate the proposed approach, experimental studies were performed, and two removable PZT-based transducers were designed and fabricated to detect the debonding between a steel beam and the reinforcing CRFP plate. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method in detecting the debonding between a steel beam and the reinforcing CFRP plate using removable PZT-based transducers.

Highlights

Steel structures of various forms are widely used in constructions [1,2], with adverse factors such as corrosion [3,4], dynamic loads [5,6], and impacts [7,8], steel structures are subject to damages [9,10]
Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) has been demonstrated as promising for strengthening steel structures [15], especially for the bending components, which can be strengthened conveniently by bonding a CFRP sheet or plate to the tension face [16]
Among the CFRP materials used for reinforcement of steel structures, CFRP sheets and CFRP

Summary

Introduction

Steel structures of various forms are widely used in constructions [1,2], with adverse factors such as corrosion [3,4], dynamic loads [5,6], and impacts [7,8], steel structures are subject to damages [9,10]. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials are widely used to retrofit or reinforce damaged steel structures [11,12,13] due to their high strength-to-weight ratio, excellent corrosion resistance, and fast and easy installation. Research on the application of CFRP materials for reinforcement of steel structures has received much attention [14]. CFRP has been demonstrated as promising for strengthening steel structures [15], especially for the bending components, which can be strengthened conveniently by bonding a CFRP sheet or plate to the tension face [16]. Among the CFRP materials used for reinforcement of steel structures, CFRP sheets and CFRP plates are most commonly used.

Methods

Results

Conclusion