Structural Health Monitoring Based on Acoustic Emissions: Validation on a Prestressed Concrete Bridge Tested to Failure

The increasing number of bridges approaching their design life has prompted researchers and operators to develop innovative structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques. An acoustic emissions (AE) method is a passive SHM approach based on the detection of elastic waves in structural components generated by damages, such as the initiation and propagation of cracks in concrete and the failure of steel wires. In this paper, the authors discuss the effectiveness of AE techniques by analyzing records acquired during a load test on a full-size prestressed concrete bridge span. The bridge is a 1968 structure currently decommissioned but perfectly representative, by type, age, and deterioration state of similar bridges in operation on the Italian highway network. It underwent a sequence of loading and unloading cycles with a progressively increasing load up to failure. The authors analyzed the AE signals recorded during the load test and examined how far their features (number of hits, amplitude, signal strength, and peak frequency) allow us to detect, quantify, and classify damages. The authors conclude that AE can be successfully used in permanent monitoring to provide information on the cracking state and the maximum load withstood. They can also be used as a non-destructive technique to recognize whether a structural member is cracked. Finally, the authors noticed that AE allow classifying different types of damage, although further experiments are needed to establish and validate a robust classification procedure.

• Record URL:
  • https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/24/7272
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/14248220
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2020 Daniel Tonelli et al.
• Authors:
  • Tonelli, Daniel
  • Luchetta, Michele
  • Rossi, Francesco
  • Migliorino, Placido
  • Zonta, Daniele
• Publication Date: 2020-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 7272
• Serial:
  • Sensors
  • Volume: 20
  • Issue Number: 24
  • Publisher: MDPI AG
  • ISSN: 1424-8220
  • Serial URL: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Acoustic emission; Cracking; Failure analysis; Maintenance; Prestressed concrete bridges; Structural health monitoring; Validation
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01774267
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 15 2021 12:32PM