Open Journal Systems

Towards smart concrete for smart cities: Recent results and future application of strain-sensing nanocomposites

Antonella D’Alessandro, Filippo Ubertini, Simon Laflamme, Annibale Luigi Materazzi

Article ID: 01.002.
Vol 1, Issue 1, 2016, Article identifier:

VIEWS - 419 (Abstract) 492 (PDF)

Abstract

The use of smart technologies combined with city planning have given rise to smart cities, which empower modern urban systems with the efficient tools to cope with growing needs from increasing population sizes. For example, smart sensors are commonly used to improve city operations and management by tracking traffic, monitoring crowds at events, and performance of utility systems and public transportation. Recent advances in nanotechnologies have enabled a new family of sensors, termed self-sensing materials, which would provide smart cities with means to also monitor structural health of civil infrastructures. This includes smart concrete, which has the potential to provide any concrete structure with self-sensing capabilities. Such functional property is obtained by correlating the variation of internal strain with the variation of appropriate material properties, such as electrical resistance. Unlike conventional off-the-shelf structural health monitoring sensors, these innovative transducers combine enhanced durability and distributed measurements, thus providing greater scalability in terms of sensing size and cost. This paper presents recent advances on sensors fabricated using a cementitious matrix with nanoinclusions of Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs). The fabrication procedures providing homogeneous piezoresistive properties are presented, and the electromechanical behavior of the sensors is investigated under static and dynamic loads. Results show that the proposed sensors compare well against existing technologies of stress/strain monitoring, like strain gauges and accelerometers. Example of possible field applications for the developed nanocomposite cement-based sensors include traffic monitoring, parking management and condition assessment of masonry and concrete structures.

Keywords

smart cities; smart sensors; cement-based sensors; carbon nanotubes; structural health monitoring; na-notechnology

Full Text:

PDF


Included Database


References

Mondal P, Shah S P and Marks L D, 2008, Nanoscale characterization of cementitious materials. ACI Materials Journal, vol.105(2): 174–179. http://dx.doi.org/10.14359/19758.

Li G Y, Wang P M and Zhao X H, 2007, Pres-sure-sensitive and microstructure of carbon nanotube reinforced cement composites. Cement and Concrete Composites, vol.29(5): 377–382. http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2006.12.011.

Laflamme S, Ubertini F, Saleem H, et al. 2015, Dynamic characterization of a soft elastomeric capacitor for structural health monitoring, Journal of Structural Engineering, vol.144(8): 04014186. http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0001151.

Monti M, Natali M, Petrucci R, et al. 2011, Carbon nanofibers for strain and impact damage sensing in glass fiber reinforced composites based on an unsaturated polyester resin, Polymer Composites, vol.32(5): 766–775.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pc.21098.

Ubertini F, Laflamme S, Ceylan H, et al. 2014, Novel nanocomposite technologies for dynamic monitoring of structures: A comparison between cement-based embeddable and soft elastomeric surface sensors. Smart Materials and Structure, vol.23(4): 045023. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0964-1726/23/4/045023.

Cohen D J, Mitra D, Peterson K, et al. 2012, A highly elastic, capacitive strain gauge based on percolating nanotube networks. Nano Letters, vol.12(4): 1821–1825.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl204052z.

Cochrane C, Koncar V, Lewandowski M, et al. 2007, Design and development of a flexible strain sensor for textile structures based on a conductive polymer composite. Sensors, vol.7(4): 473–492. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s7040473.

Fu X, Lu W and Chung D D L, 1997, Improving the strain-sensing ability of carbon fiber-reinforced cement by ozone treatment of the fibers. Cement and Concrete Research, vol.28(6): 183–187. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0008-8846(97)00265-2.

Konsta-Gdoutos M S, Metexa Z S and Shah S P, 2010, Highly dispersed carbon nanotube reinforced cement- based materials. Cement Concrete Research, vol.40(7): 1052–1059. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2010.02.015.

Lourie O, Cox D M and Wagner H D, 1998, Buckling and collapse of embedded carbon nanotube. Physical Review Letters, vol.81(8): 1638. http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.1638.

Han B G, Yu X and Ou J P, 2011, Multifunctional and smart nanotube reinforced cement-based materials, in Nanotechnology in Civil Infrastructure, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Germany, 1–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16657-0_1.

Cicco S R, Farinola G M, Martinelli C, et al. 2010, Pd-promoted homocoupling reactions of unsaturated silanes in aqueous micelles. European Journal of Organic Chemistry, vol.1(12): 2275–2279. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejoc.201000021.

Cao J Y and Chung D D L, Electric polarization and depolarization in cement-based materials, studied by apparent electrical resistance measurement. Cement and Concrete Research, vol.34(3): 481–485. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2003.09.003.

Meehan D G, Wang S and Chung D D L, 2010, Electrical-resistance-based sensing of impact damage in carbon fiber reinforced cement-based materials. Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structure. vol.21(1): 83–105. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1045389X09354786.

Wen S H and Chung D D L, 2005, Strain-sensing characteristic of carbon fiber-reinforced cement. American Concrete Institute, vol.102(4): 244–248. http://dx.doi.org/10.14359/14617.

Chen P W and Chung D D L, 1993, Carbon fiber reinforced concrete for smart structures capable of non-destructive flaw detection. Smart Materials and Structures, vol.2(1): 22–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0964-1726/2/1/004.

Bontea D M, Chung D D L and Lee G C, 2000, Damage in carbon fiber-reinforced concrete, monitored by electrical resistance measurement. Cement and Concrete Research, vol.30(4): 651–659. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0008-8846(00)00204-0.

Han B G, Ding S Q and Yu X, 2015, Intrinsic self-sensing concrete and structures. Measurements, vol.59: 110–128. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2014.09.048.

Kuronuma Y, Takeda T, Shindo Y, et al. 2012, Electrical resistance-based strain sensing in carbon nanotube/polymer composites under tension: Analytical modeling and experiments. Composites Science and Technology, vol.72(14): 1678–1682. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2012.07.001.

Gong S, Zhu Z H and Meguid S A, 2014, Carbon nanotube agglomeration effect on piezoresistivity of polymer nanocomposites. Polymer, vol.55(21): 5488–5499. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2014.08.054.

Feng C and Jiang L Y, 2013, Micromechanics modeling of the electrical conductivity of carbon nanotube (CNT)- polymer nanocomposites. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, vol.47: 143–149. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2012.12.008.

Xu Z H and Liu Z T, 2007, Fatigue damage in smart carbon fiber concrete by electrical resistance measurement. Key Engineering Materials, vol.348–349: 435–438. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.348-349.345.

Galao O, Baeza, Zornoza E, et al. 2014, Strain and damage sensing properties on multifunctional cement composites with CNF admixture. Cement and Concrete Composites, vol.46: 90–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2013.11.009.

Gao D, Sturm M S and Mo Y L, 2009, Development of carbon nanofiber self-consolidating concrete, In 2nd International Symposium on Design, Performance and Use of Self-Consolidating Concrete, RILEM Publications sarl, Bagneux, 126–134.

Li H, Xiao H G and Ou J P, 2006, Effect of compressive strain on electrical resistivity of carbon black-filled cement-based composites. Cement and Concrete Composites, vol.28(9): 824–828. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2006.05.004.

Laflamme S, Pinto I, Saleem H S, et al. 2015, Conductive paint-filled cement paste sensor for accelerated percolation: SPIE Proceedings, Structural Health Monitoring and Inspection of Advanced Materials, Aerospace, and Civil Infrastructure 2015, vol.9437: 943722. http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.2084408.

Konsta-Gdoutos M S and Aza C A, 2014, Self sensing carbon nanotube (CNT) and nanofiber (CNF) cementitious composites for real-time damage assessment in smart structures. Cement and Concrete Composite, vol.53: 162–169.


DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18063/JSC.2015.01.002
(419 Abstract Views, 492 PDF Downloads)

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2016 Antonella D’Alessandro, Filippo Ubertini, Simon Laflamme, Annibale Luigi Materazzi

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.


 

Journal of Smart Cities is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal. All journal content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.