Experimental Study on the Influence of Different Types of Probes on Piezoresistive Characteristics of Smart Concrete In-filled with Graphene

Abstract

Filling conductive particles or fibers can improve the conductivity of cement-based composites, and then piezoresistance. Graphene is a newly-discovered nano-platelet material, which has super high conductivity. Using it into cement-based materials can induce piezoresistive characteristics. While, different types of electrical probes can make cement-based smart material possess diverse piezoresistance. In this paper, mesh and wire probes are used to investigate their influence on piezoresistance of smart concrete. The experimental results show that smart concrete responses the external force linearly when mesh probes are used and the electrical resistance variation ratio is 2% under maximum load, which indicates the sensitivity is low. For wire probes, the piezoresistive response is non-linear, while, its sensitivity is high according to the fact that the resistance variation ratio is 25%. In terms of different piezoresistive reactions of varied probes, cement-based smart materials in-filled with graphene can have different applications.