Application of cement-based piezoelectric composites in acoustic emission detection for concrete

1-3 cement-based piezoelectric composites that have good compatibility with concrete material have been developed for health monitoring of concrete structures. Transducers made of this type of composites have been especially designed to meet the requirement of being embedded into concrete materials. In the property calibration, the transducers show broadband frequency response which is the basic requirement of acoustic emission (AE) transducers. The frequency response of the transducers made of 1-3 cement-based composites and piezoelectric ceramic are compared. Plain concrete beams with embedded 1-3 cement-based piezoelectric transducers are prepared and tested. During loading, AE events are recorded. The accumulated AE event number is analyzed with the loading history. The damage evolution of concrete beam could be monitored using the system including embedded transducers and software to record and analyze the data.