Numerical investigation of piezoelectric composite transducers for active sensing of concrete structures

Abstract

This paper presents the numerical study of the piezoelectric composite transducers for active sensing of concrete structures. A three-dimensional coupled field finite element model is initially constructed to capture the electro-mechanical impedance features of the piezoelectric composite transducers. The elaborated transducer takes the shape of a cube filled with the piezoelectric material. The spatially interdigitated electrodes are integrated to evenly separate the entire piezoelectric medium, forming the stacked piezoelectric units with opposite poling directions. Subsequently, the proposed transducers are embedded in a concrete beam, serving as the transmitter and the receiver, respectively. The electro mechanical impedance approach enabled by the proposed piezoelectric composite sensor is numerically conducted for crack detection. In addition, a pitch-catch active sensing procedure in concrete structures is realized via the transient analysis, modeling ultrasonic wave generation by the transmitter, propagation inside the concrete beam, interaction with the crack, and reception by the receiver. The developed piezoelectric composite transducer possesses tremendous potential for health monitoring of concrete structures. The paper finishes with discussion, concluding remarks, and suggestions for future work.