Internal crack detection in concrete pavement using discrete strain sensors

• Published in: Journal of civil structural health monitoring Vol. 10; no. 2; pp. 345 - 356
• Main Authors: Alshandah, Mohanad, Huang, Ying, Gao, Zhili, Lu, Pan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.04.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Civil Engineering; Concrete pavements; Control; Crack propagation; Dynamical Systems; Engineering; Flaw detection; Fracture mechanics; Linear elastic fracture mechanics; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Original Paper; Sensors; Vibration; Stress intensity; Bottom-up crack; Crack detection; Discrete strain sensor; Concrete pavement
• ISSN: 2190-5452; 2190-5479
• DOI: 10.1007/s13349-020-00388-2

Cracking in concrete pavements is a major concern for their performance, especially the existence of the internal bottom-up cracks. These cracks may induce water penetration in-pavement structure and foundation, resulting in-pavement degradation. Early detection of the hidden cracks in concrete pavements can expedite timely maintenance, which improves the safety of the infrastructure. This paper develops a detection system for internal crack location and propagation using discrete strain sensors at the bottom of the concrete pavements. In this study, based on linear elastic fracture mechanics, a theoretical approach is derived from locating the bottom-up crack and tracking the crack propagation using a minimum of two discrete in-pavement strain sensors. Experimental results showed that the proposed crack detection approach with two discrete strain sensors could detect bottom-up cracks with an average measurement accuracy of 82.4% for three specimens tested in the laboratory. This study may provide an alternative technique to detect hidden bottom-up cracks in concrete pavements.