Self-monitoring properties of concrete columns with embedded cement-based strain sensors

Cement-based strain sensors (CBCC sensor) were fabricated by taking the advantage of piezoresistivity of CB-filled CBCC. CBCC sensors were centrally embedded into concrete columns (made with C40 and C80 concretes, respectively) to monitor the strain of the columns under cyclic load and monotonic load by measuring the resistance of CBCC sensors. The comparison between the monitored results of CBCC sensors and that of traditional displacement transducers indicates that CBCC sensors have good strain-sensing abilities. Meanwhile, CBCC sensors exhibit different failure modes that break later than C40 concrete columns, but a little earlier than C80 concrete columns. Therefore, the strength-matching principle between embedded CBCC sensors and concrete columns is proposed in this article to guarantee the sensing capacity of CBCC sensors in various concrete structures. The analytical results agree well with the experimental phenomena.