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Structural Health Monitoring and NDE Methodologies for Smart Materials and Structures

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 22377

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Evangelos Z. Kordatos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering and Mathematics, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S1 1WB, UK
Interests: advanced materials’ behavior; materials engineering; metal matrix composites; ceramic matrix composites; carbon fiber reinforced polymers; non-destructive evaluation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Structural health monitoring (SHM) and non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methodologies have become essential for comprehensive management of any system. NDE techniques have been extensively employed to monitor materials’ behaviour, quality and safety in almost every industry throughout all the materials’ lifecycle stages. They have been applied in engineering, biomedicine, physics, nuclear technology, etc. The development of novel NDE methodologies is critical, driven by the use of innovative materials, smart materials and structures. SHM is an important technology that has numerous applications. SHM has been established due to the wide field of smart structures and includes various other disciplines such as sensors and actuators, structural dynamics, data acquisition, signal processing, etc. SHM and NDE methodologies can be employed to many types of SMART materials. Some material examples include piezoelectric, shape memory alloys and polymers, electroactive polymers, photovoltaics, thermoelectric, self-healing, etc. 

This Special Issue of Applied Sciences focuses on new developments and advances of SHM strategies and NDE methodologies for SMART materials and structures. The aim of this issue is to attract research involving novel and advanced methodologies or/and new applications that have an impact on the scientific community.

Potential topics include but are not limited to NDE for damage assessment, defect detection, property evaluation and fracture monitoring based on various non-destructive approaches, SHM systems for SMART materials and structures, sensor technologies for SHM and NDE, sensor integration and networks, smart systems for evaluation and monitoring, nanotechnology applied to SHM, integration of multiple NDE methodologies for enhanced monitoring, and interdisciplinary approaches for NDE and SHM.

Dr. Evangelos Z. Kordatos
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Non-destructive testing and evaluation (NDT/NDE)
  • Structural health monitoring (SHM)
  • SMART materials and structures
  • Sensors for SHM and NDT/NDE
  • Artificial intelligence for SHM and NDE
  • Data fusion and feature extraction
  • NDE integration

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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25 pages, 4973 KiB  
Article
Risk-Based Selection of Inspection Method for External Post-Tensioning System of Bridges
by Mahdy Taeby and Armin B. Mehrabi
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(14), 7103; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12147103 - 14 Jul 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1879
Abstract
The increasing complexity associated with the maintenance of bridges with post-tensioning tendons, along with growing public awareness to ensure higher levels of safety in bridges, has put additional pressure on the designers and the owners to find innovative solutions to ensure safe as [...] Read more.
The increasing complexity associated with the maintenance of bridges with post-tensioning tendons, along with growing public awareness to ensure higher levels of safety in bridges, has put additional pressure on the designers and the owners to find innovative solutions to ensure safe as well as economically viable solutions. Risk-based inspection and maintenance helps in finding such solutions and, thus, it is gaining more importance in the field of infrastructure management. Within the framework of current risk-based inspection methodologies, it is normally assumed that the method by which the inspection is performed is known beforehand. However, the selection of the inspection method by itself should be given importance and viewed as the first key step for any inspection. The lack of quantitative data in the initiation step makes this selection uncertain and the decision making rather subjective. Despite recent release of comprehensive reports and other publications on condition assessment of bridges with post-tensioning systems, a quantitative approach and a decision-making framework for the selection of the inspection method and associated protocol are still missing, and the inspection strategy and methods are determined purely by the experience of the inspector or the owner. In this paper, a simple and structured risk-based selection methodology is presented that can bridge the existing knowledge gap. The proposed methodology uses a statistical approach to quantify the likelihood of the inspection error utilizing a variety of applicable NDE (Non-destructive Evaluation) methods. To give the methodology both accuracy and practicality, the specifications for the national bridge inventory (SNBI) condition rating was incorporated in this methodology and the accuracy of the inspection methods are measured against determining the correct SNBI condition. Application and effectiveness of the proposed methodology are demonstrated using a case study inspection conducted earlier by the authors. The results, in this case, converged to the selection of one of the NDE methods, which consequently was accepted by the bridge stakeholders. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Health Monitoring and NDE Methodologies for Smart Materials and Structures)
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14 pages, 2913 KiB  
Article
Monitoring of Liquid Viscosity for Viscous Dampers through a Wireless Impedance Measurement System
by Sihui Jia and Mingzhang Luo
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(1), 189; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12010189 - 24 Dec 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2931
Abstract
Viscous dampers are a type of seismic damping equipment widely used in high-rise buildings and bridges. However, the viscosity of the damping fluid inside the viscous damper will change over time during its use, which significantly reduces the seismic performance of the viscous [...] Read more.
Viscous dampers are a type of seismic damping equipment widely used in high-rise buildings and bridges. However, the viscosity of the damping fluid inside the viscous damper will change over time during its use, which significantly reduces the seismic performance of the viscous damper. Hence, it is necessary to monitor the viscosity of the fluid inside the damper over its service life. In this paper, a damping fluid viscosity monitoring method based on wireless impedance measurement technology is proposed. A piezoelectric sensor is installed in a damper cylinder specimen, and the viscosity of the damping fluid is determined by measuring the piezoelectric impedance value of the sensor. In this study, 10 samples of damping fluids with different viscosities are tested. In order to quantitatively correlate damping fluid viscosity and electrical impedance, a viscosity index (VI) based on the root mean square deviation (RMSD) is proposed. The experimental results show that the variation of the real part in the impedance signal can qualitatively determine the damping fluid viscosity while the proposed VI can effectively and quantitatively identify the damping fluid viscosity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Health Monitoring and NDE Methodologies for Smart Materials and Structures)
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13 pages, 4027 KiB  
Article
Acoustic Emission for Evaluating the Reinforcement Effectiveness in Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete
by Anastasios C. Mpalaskas, Theodore E. Matikas, Dimitrios G. Aggelis and Ninel Alver
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(9), 3850; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11093850 - 24 Apr 2021
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 2596
Abstract
Steel fiber reinforcement in concrete strongly enhances its ductility and toughness. This is basically due to the additional fracture mechanisms and energy used to overcome the interlocking and adhesion between the fibers and the cementitious matrix. The enhancement of the final properties is [...] Read more.
Steel fiber reinforcement in concrete strongly enhances its ductility and toughness. This is basically due to the additional fracture mechanisms and energy used to overcome the interlocking and adhesion between the fibers and the cementitious matrix. The enhancement of the final properties is measured by mechanical tests and can be assessed only at the end of loading. These processes can be targeted and monitored by acoustic emission (AE) indices offering real-time characterization of the material’s performance much earlier than the final failure or the termination of loading. In this study, steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) beams were tested in bending with simultaneous AE monitoring. Tests conducted independently in different laboratories confirm that the AE behavior at low load levels is very indicative of the amount of reinforcement and consequently, of the final mechanical properties. The reason is that the reinforcement phase is activated through shear stresses in its interphase, a mechanism that is more profound in the presence of higher fiber content, and correspondingly is absent in plain unreinforced material. This finding opens the way to characterize the effectiveness of reinforcement with just a proof loading at less than 30% of the final load bearing capacity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Health Monitoring and NDE Methodologies for Smart Materials and Structures)
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19 pages, 14083 KiB  
Article
A Novel Composite with Structural Health Monitoring Functionality via 2D and 3D Impedance Mapping Topography
by Georgios Foteinidis and Alkiviadis S. Paipetis
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(4), 1647; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041647 - 11 Feb 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2729
Abstract
We report the transformation of a conventional composite material into a multifunctional structure able to provide information about its structural integrity. A purposely positioned grid of carbon fabric strips located within a glass fibre laminate in alternating 0/90 configuration combined with a ternary [...] Read more.
We report the transformation of a conventional composite material into a multifunctional structure able to provide information about its structural integrity. A purposely positioned grid of carbon fabric strips located within a glass fibre laminate in alternating 0/90 configuration combined with a ternary nanomodified epoxy matrix imparted structural health monitoring (SHM) topographic capabilities to the composite using the impedance spectroscopy (IS) technique. The matrix was reinforced with homogenously dispersed multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and carbon black (CB). A sinusoidal electric field was applied locally over a frequency range from 1 Hz to 100 kHz between the junction points of the grid of carbon fabric strips. The proposed design enabled topographic damage assessment after a high-velocity impact via the local monitoring of the impedance. The data obtained from the IS measurements were depicted by magnitude and phase delay Bode plots and Nyquist plots. The impedance values were used to create a 2D and a multi-layer (3D) contour topographical image of the damaged area, which revealed crucial information about the structural integrity of the composite. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Health Monitoring and NDE Methodologies for Smart Materials and Structures)
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Review

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34 pages, 6360 KiB  
Review
Non-Destructive Testing Applications for Steel Bridges
by Seyed Saman Khedmatgozar Dolati, Nerma Caluk, Armin Mehrabi and Seyed Sasan Khedmatgozar Dolati
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(20), 9757; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11209757 - 19 Oct 2021
Cited by 58 | Viewed by 11171
Abstract
The growing population and increasing demand for surface transportation have highlighted the importance of maintaining safe and reliable civil infrastructures for daily use. Among all civil infrastructures, bridges are one of the most important elements in the transportation system. As such, to prevent [...] Read more.
The growing population and increasing demand for surface transportation have highlighted the importance of maintaining safe and reliable civil infrastructures for daily use. Among all civil infrastructures, bridges are one of the most important elements in the transportation system. As such, to prevent any failures caused by aging and environmental impacts, bridges require periodic inspections. This becomes even more critical due to climate change and its effect on bridges, especially in the coastal regions. Most of the inspections conducted incorporate the visual type of evaluation due to its simplicity. However, with the current developments in new technologies, there is a need for more advanced techniques of structural health monitoring (SHM) methods to be incorporated in the maintenance programs for more accurate and efficient surveys. In this paper, non-destructive testing (NDT) methods applicable to steel bridges are reviewed, with a focus on methods applicable to local damage detection. Moreover, the methodology, advantages and disadvantages, and up-to-date research on NDT methods are presented. Furthermore, the application of novel NDT techniques using innovative sensors, drones, and robots for the rapid and efficient assessment of damages on small and large scales is emphasized. This study is deemed necessary as it compiles in one place the available information regarding NDT methods for in-service steel bridges. Access to such information is critical for researchers who intend to work on new or improved NDT techniques. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Health Monitoring and NDE Methodologies for Smart Materials and Structures)
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