Electrical impedance tomography to monitor unsaturated moisture flows, and to detect corrosive elements and cracking in cementitious materials

Aku Seppänen, Milad Hallaji, Danny Smyl, Mohammad Pour-Ghaz

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference article in proceedingsScientificpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is an imaging modality which uses electrical measurements to reconstruct two- or three-dimensional (2D/3D) electrical conductivity distributions in target objects. In this paper, we discuss two recent applications of EIT in structural health monitoring. First, we study the feasibility of EIT for imaging unsaturated moisture flows in cement-based materials. In the experiments, specimens are monitored with EIT during the water ingress in the specimens. The results indicate that EIT is able to detect the moisture movement and to show approximately the shape and position of the water front. Secondly, we develop EIT -based surface sensing systems, or sensing skin, for detecting and localizing the ingress of chlorides and cracking - two phenomena which are of concern in many structures, including reinforced concrete structures. In the experiments, the sensing skins are tested using concrete substrates. The results demonstrate the feasibility of a singlelayer sensing skin for detecting cracks, and further, show the potential of a multi-functional multi-layer sensing skin for simultaneously detecting corrosive elements and cracks, and for distinguishing between them.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 8th European Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring, EWSHM 2016
PublisherCurran Associates Inc.
Pages1604-1613
Number of pages10
Volume3
ISBN (Electronic)9781510827936
Publication statusPublished - 2016
MoE publication typeA4 Conference publication
EventEuropean Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring - Bilbao, Spain
Duration: 5 Jul 20168 Jul 2016
Conference number: 8

Workshop

WorkshopEuropean Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring
Abbreviated titleEWSHM
Country/TerritorySpain
CityBilbao
Period05/07/201608/07/2016

Keywords

  • Concrete
  • Condition monitoring
  • Corrosion
  • Damage detection
  • Electrical impedance tomography
  • Electrical methods
  • Imaging
  • Other methods

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