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- Structural health monitoring (6) (entfernen)
Damages in infrastructure due to moisture amount to billions of Euros every year. For a more predictive structural health monitoring in civil engineering, the detection and monitoring of hazardous moisture in steel reinforced concrete constructions is of high interest. The sensors have to be wireless, elsewise they weaken the concrete cover of the rebars. The lifetime of such constructions is normally decades, thus the sensors have to be battery-free and fully passive. Considering these requirements, passive RFID-based sensors are developed. Communication and energy supply are realized wireless via the electromagnetic field of a RFID transmitter. The passive RFIDbased sensors are embedded into the concrete to enable the monitoring of moisture transport in porous materials. Results of the hydration process are shown.
This paper is a further research on the topic of the complete embedding of radio frequency identification (RFID) sensors in concrete. The focus is on the antenna of the transponder. Earlier investigations of different RFID technologies, embedded in concrete, showed a difference in energy transmission. The transmission through concrete at ultra high frequency (UHF), in spite of the large signal range, does not match the targeted application specific task. Therefore, the antenna characteristics have been examined more closely. The antenna is an important component for the application of RFID. Through the antenna, energy and data transfer takes place, so it is important to design an optimal antenna to accomplish a maximum embedding depths in concrete. To identify the optimal antenna geometry, different UHF antenna types were selected and investigated. An experimental comparison was performed to gain more information about the damping behavior and antenna characteristics in concrete.
Limited access to the object of relevance is often an essential problem in testing routines, e.g. for non-destructive testing of industry facilities or components of means of transportation. The presented project is about the development of a non-destructive testing method for application over great distances (up to 100 m). The method is based on directed excitation and measuring of Lamb waves (guided waves). It enables an effective differentiation of structural and defective indications as well as a classification of different defect types.
The advantage of guided waves is the ability of propagation over great distances. This offers innovative possibilities for the investigation of large or difficult to access constructions. The testing method can be helpful in a broad variety of applications. It is useable for the characterization of plane or cylindrical, thin-walled surfaces of metal or fiber laminated materials. Particularly the investigation of aircraft wings and other aerospace components as well as the investigation of pipelines are addressed fields of application.
Embedded wireless sensor systems for long-term SHM and corrosion detection in concrete components
(2017)
State-of-the-art communication standards like RFID and Bluetooth Low Energy enable the development of sensor systems which can be completely embedded into concrete components for long-term SHM and early damage detection. Objective of the project KonSens which is carried out at BAM is the development, implementation, and validation of sensors for measuring of Parameters relevant for corrosion, like moisture, pH value, and electrical conductivity, inside steel reinforced concrete components. The primarily addressed application is detection and evaluation of corrosion processes in concrete bridges.
In contrast to cable connected sensors, embedded wireless sensors avoid any pathways for intrusion of moisture and chemicals, e.g., chlorides which could trigger corrosion activity. To allow for long-term, ideally life-time operation, the once embedded sensor systems must work highly energy efficient. One option are passive RFID sensor systems, which work without battery. The energy is transmitted to the system through the electromagnetic field, even to operate sensors. A crucial parameter is the transmission depth in concrete. First experiments with RFID sensors working at frequencies of 13.56 MHz (HF) and 868 MHz (UHF) embedded in concrete specimen resulted positive for transmission depths of up to 13 cm, which is quite promising, considering that corrosion would appear first at the top level of rebars.
A second generation of passive RFID sensor systems has been implemented with improved antenna design. Current experiments using these systems focus on the Transmission characteristics in terms of transmission depths and the impact of concrete moisture. Low-energy humidity sensors are used and analysed regarding their capability for measuring the material moisture. Additionally, a relation between transmitted power to the embedded sensor and the moisture content of the concrete specimen caused by energy absorption can be presumed and is under systematic investigation.
Long-term completely embedded sensor systems offer innovative possibilities for structural health monitoring of concrete structures. Measuring of relevant parameters, e.g., temperature, humidity, or indication of corrosion can be performed with low energy sensors. This allows to implement passive RFID sensor systems without cable connection and battery, which are power supplied exclusively by the electromagnetic field from the external reader device. To evaluate characteristics and conditions of this concept, a systematical investigation of the transmission characteristics with variation of relevant parameters, as communication frequency, installation depth, type of concrete, moisture content, etc. is currently carried out in an interdisciplinary research project at BAM. First results are presented in this paper.
Completely embedded sensor systems for long-term
operation offer innovative possibilities for structural health
monitoring of concrete structures. Measuring of relevant
parameters, e.g., temperature, humidity, or indication of
corrosion can be performed with low energy sensors. This allows
to implement passive RFID sensor systems without cable
connection and battery, which are power supplied exclusively by
the electromagnetic field from the external reader device. To
evaluate characteristics and conditions of this concept, a
systematical investigation of the transmission characteristics with
variation of relevant parameters, as communication frequency,
installation depth, type of concrete, moisture content, etc. is
currently carried out in an interdisciplinary research project at
BAM. First results are presented in this paper.