• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.277-296
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• 2016

There is a need for rapid and objective assessment of concrete bridge decks for maintenance decision making. Infrared Thermography (IRT) has great potential to identify deck delaminations more objectively than routine visual inspections or chain drag tests. In addition, it is possible to collect reliable data rapidly with appropriate IRT cameras attached to vehicles and the data are analyzed effectively. This research compares three infrared cameras with different specifications at different times and speeds for data collection, and explores several factors affecting the utilization of IRT in regards to subsurface damage detection in concrete structures, specifically when the IRT is utilized for high-speed bridge deck inspection at normal driving speeds. These results show that IRT can detect up to 2.54 cm delamination from the concrete surface at any time period. It is observed that nighttime would be the most suitable time frame with less false detections and interferences from the sunlight and less adverse effect due to direct sunlight, making more "noise" for the IRT results. This study also revealed two important factors of camera specifications for high-speed inspection by IRT as shorter integration time and higher pixel resolution.

• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.135-149
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• 2007

In the automobile industry, structural health monitoring of fiber reinforced polymer composite parts is a widespread need for maintenance before breakdown of the functional elements or a complete vehicle. High performance sensors are generally used in many of the structural health monitoring operations. Within this study, a carbon fiber sewing thread has been used as a low cost laminate failure sensing element. The experimentation plan was set up according to the electrical conductance and flexibility of carbon fiber threads, advantages of preforming operations, and sewing mechanisms. The influence of the single thread damages by changing the electrical resistance and monitoring the impact location by using carbon thread sensors has been performed. Innovative utilization of relatively cost-effective carbon threads for monitoring the delamination of metallic inserts from the basic composite laminate structure is a highlighting feature of this study.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.197-211
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• 2014

An investigation of tunnel linings is performed at two tunnels in the US using complimentary noncontact techniques: air-coupled ground penetrating radar (GPR), and a vehicle-mounted scanning system (SPACETEC) that combines laser, visual, and infrared thermography scanning methods. This paper shows that a combination of such techniques can maximize inspection coverage in a comprehensive and efficient manner. Since ground-truth is typically not available in public tunnel field evaluations, the noncontact techniques used are compared with two reliable in-depth contact nondestructive testing methods: ground-coupled GPR and ultrasonic tomography. The noncontact techniques are used to identify and locate the reinforcement mesh, structural steel ribs, internal layer interfaces, shallow delamination, and tile debonding. It is shown that this combination of methods can be used synergistically to provide tunnel owners with a comprehensive and efficient approach for monitoring tunnel lining conditions.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.47-56
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• 1995

This study is aimed to have a database of system development for the prediction, monitoring, analyzing, and evaluation of tensile strength and damage characteristics through AE technique for CFRP. Therefore the correlations between impact characteristics (such as impact velocity, impact energy, delamination area etc) and AE signals for CFRP laminates were investigated. And also it were accomplished the evaluation of tensile strength and the investigation on correlation with AE signals for impact damaged specimen of CFRP laminates.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.34-38
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• 2010

Electrochemical study on cut edge corrosion of prepainted Zn coated (GI) and 55%Al-Zn coated (GL) steels has been performed in wet-dry cyclic conditions. Maximum width of delaminated polymer coating from the cut edge for GI and GL specimens was evaluated under wet-dry cyclic conditions. The cyclic tests were carried out for 1000 h by changing of relative humidity, where the salt of NaCl was deposited on the specimen every 48 h. The cut edge corrosion test under NaCl deposit indicated that the delamination of the GL specimen progresses at a higher rate than the GI. The electrochemical corrosion monitoring was also performed under condition of alternate exposure to immersion in NaCl solution and drying at 60%RH and $25^{\circ}C$. On the basis of the results of the delamination tests and electrochemical measurements, the mechanism of cut edge corrosion for GI and GL were discussed.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.19-34
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• 2015

One of the main causes of a limited use of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies in bridge deck assessment is the speed of data collection and analysis. The paper describes development and implementation of the RABIT (Robotics Assisted Bridge Inspection Tool) for data collection using multiple NDE technologies. The system is designed to characterize three most common deterioration types in concrete bridge decks: rebar corrosion, delamination, and concrete degradation. It implements four NDE technologies: electrical resistivity (ER), impact echo (IE), ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and ultrasonic surface waves (USW) method. The technologies are used in a complementary way to enhance the interpretation. In addition, the system utilizes advanced vision to complement traditional visual inspection. Finally, the RABIT collects data at a significantly higher speed than it is done using traditional NDE equipment. The robotic system is complemented by an advanced data interpretation. The associated platform for the enhanced interpretation of condition assessment in concrete bridge decks utilizes data integration, fusion, and deterioration and defect visualization. This paper concentrates on the validation and field implementation of two NDE technologies. The first one is IE used in the delamination detection and characterization, while the second one is the USW method used in the assessment of concrete quality. The validation of performance of the two methods was conducted on a 9 m long and 3.6 m wide fabricated bridge structure with numerous artificial defects embedded in the deck.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.174-178
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• 2001

The piezoelectric thin film sensor can be used to interpret variations in structural and material properties, e.g. for structural integrity monitoring and assessment. To illustrate one of this potential benefit, PVDF film sensors are used for monitoring impact damage initiation in Gr/Ep composite panel. Both PVDF film sensors and strain gages are surface mounted to the Gr/Ep specimens. A series of impact test at various impact energy by changing impact mass and height is performed on the instrumented drop weight impact tester. The sensor responses are carefully examined to predict the onset of impact damage such as matrix cracking, delamination, and fiber breakage, etc. Test results show that the particular waveforms of sensor signals implying the damage initiation and development are detected above the damage initiation impact energy. As expected, the PVDF film sensor is found to be more sensitive to impact damage initiation event than the strain gage.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.17 no.3_4
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• pp.347-356
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• 2004

In order to extend the lifetime of buildings and civil infrastructure, patch type fibrous composite retrofitting materials are widely used. Retrofitted concrete columns and beams gain stiffness and strength, but lose toughness and show brittle failure. Usually, the cracks in concrete structures are visible to the naked eye and the status of the structure in the life cycle is estimated through visual inspections. After retrofitting of the structure, crack visibility is blocked by retrofitted composite materials. Therefore, structural monitoring after retrofitting is indispensable and self diagnosis method with optical fiber sensors is very useful. In this paper, we try to detect the peel out effect and find the strain difference between the main structure and retrofitting patch material when they separate from each other. In the experiment, two fiber optic Bragg grating sensors are applied to the main concrete structure and the patching material separately at the same position. The sensors show coincident behaviors at the initial loading, but different behaviors after a certain load. The test results show the possibility of optical fiber sensor monitoring of beam structures retrofitted by the composite patches.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.307-325
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• 2014

A newly developed method based on energy is presented to study the damage pattern of FRP material. Basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) is employed to monitor the damage under fatigue loading. In this study, acoustic emission technique (AE) combined with scanning electronic microscope (SEM) technique is employed to monitor the damage evolution of the BFRP specimen in an approximate continuous scanning way. The AE signals are analyzed based on the wavelet transform, and the analyses are confirmed by SEM images. Several damage patterns of BFRP material, such as matrix cracking, delamination, fiber fracture and their combinations, are identified through the experiment. According to the results, the cumulative energy (obtained from wavelet coefficients) of various damage patterns are closely related to the damage evolution of the BFRP specimens during the entire fatigue tests. It has been found that the proposed technique can effectively distinguish different damage patterns of FRP materials and describe the fatigue damage evolution.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2017

Installation of sensors networks for continuous in-service monitoring of structures and their efficiency conditions is a current research trend of paramount interest. On-line monitoring systems could be strategically useful for road infrastructures, which are expected to perform efficiently and be self-diagnostic, also in emergency scenarios. This work researches damage detection in composite concrete-steel structures that are typical for highway overpasses and bridges. The techniques herein proposed assume that typical damage in the deck occurs in form of delamination and cracking, and that it affects the peak power spectral density of dynamic curvature. The investigation is performed by combining results of measurements collected by long-gauge fiber optic strain sensors installed on monitored structure and a statistic approach. A finite element model has been also prepared and validated for deepening peculiar aspects of the investigation and the availability of the method. The proposed method for real time applications is able to detect a documented unusual behavior (e.g., damage or deterioration) through long-gauge fiber optic strain sensors measurements and a probabilistic study of the dynamic curvature power spectral density.