Concrete structure safety monitoring systems

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Large infrastructures made of concrete are susceptible to degradation and eventual failure over long lifetimes of**exposure to moisture and salts, as evidenced by recent catastrophic events around the world. This project deals**with a novel approach to detect the onset of corrosion in the metal supports ("rebars") used in reinforced**concrete. The technology to be used is based on optical fibers embedded into concrete alongside rebars during**fabrication of bridges and other structures. These fibers will have sensing elements distributed along their**length for the detection of moisture ingress and of the corrosion of special coatings on the fiber. By detecting**the location of potential corrosion events very early, it will be possible to target problematic areas for further**analysis using more conventional structural testing methods. It is believed that the relatively low cost of the**sensing elements and fiber used, along with the possibility to interrogate the system remotely and only**intermittently (since the timescale of corrosion growth is very slow) will make this solution widely used in new**infrastructure built in Canada and the world, making such infrastructure "intelligent".