Feasibility of SA–based concrete seismic stress monitoring for high-strength concrete

Piezoelectric-based seismic stress monitoring provides an innovative approach to assessing the health of concrete structures during earthquakes. In this research, we evaluate the application of piezoelectric-based smart aggregate (SA) sensors for monitoring the seismic stress on high-strength concrete columns. The principle behind using smart aggregates for seismic stress monitoring is based on the assumption that concrete stress can be reliably predicted by the average output voltages of a limited number of embedded smart aggregates within an acceptable margin of error. This experiment is designed to evaluate the effects of meso-scale randomness on high-strength concrete and the effects of different loading paths on the proposed smart aggregate. Loading–unloading loops of increasing amplitude at the nonlinear stage and monotonic loading to failure were carried out on four high-strength concrete cylinders. Each specimen had six smart aggregates embedded. A statistical analysis based on the test results determined the sensitivity curve during the loading–unloading and the full-range damage processes. Monitoring errors of concrete stress monitored by smart aggregate during the pre- and post-peak stages were also discussed. The research concludes that there is the potential for deploying smart aggregate in engineering applications to monitor seismic stress on high-strength concrete structures.