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Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Physical Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2019) | Viewed by 83430

Special Issue Editors

Department of Aeronautics, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
Interests: aeronautics; fracture mechanics; structural health monitoring; computational mechanics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Aeronautical & Aviation Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Interests: non-destructive evaluation; structural health monitoring; transducer technology; ultrasound; computational modelling; electrochemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is an emerging technology that helps to ensure the safety of engineering infrastructure. It has received a great deal of interest from a variety of industries due to its ability to carry out structural integrity inspection remotely so that little human intervention and/or interruption to service status is required. Such capability will further enable condition-based maintenance, which will directly contribute to reduction of operational cost.

Piezoelectricity is a major transducer technology that is used for SHM in a variety of fields. Piezoelectric transducers, which have undergone decades of development, possess several distinct advantages including small form factor, high efficiency, and the ability to both excite and receive acousto-ultrasonic waves. This Special Issue covers a wide range of topics that are related to both the development and the application of piezoelectric transducers for SHM purposes. Papers on active and passive SHM algorithms, SHM technologies, and verification and certification of SHM systems are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. M.H. Ferri Aliabadi
Prof. Dr. Fangxin (Frank) Zou
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Piezoelectric transducer
  • Actuator
  • Sensor
  • Sensor network
  • Structural health monitoring
  • Non-destructive evaluation
  • Multifunctional material
  • Smart structure
  • Ultrasonic wave
  • Composite material
  • Additive manufacturing

Published Papers (14 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 4929 KiB  
Article
Effect of Adhesive Debonding on the Performance of Piezoelectric Sensors in Structural Health Monitoring Systems
by Xuerong Liu, Yuanming Xu, Ning Li, Xiangyu Wang and Weifang Zhang
Sensors 2019, 19(23), 5070; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19235070 - 20 Nov 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2674
Abstract
Piezoelectric (PZT) ceramic elements are often subjected to complex loads during in- service lifetime in structural health monitoring (SHM) systems, and debonding of both excitation actuators and receiving sensors have a negative effect on the monitoring signals. A first systematic investigation of debonding [...] Read more.
Piezoelectric (PZT) ceramic elements are often subjected to complex loads during in- service lifetime in structural health monitoring (SHM) systems, and debonding of both excitation actuators and receiving sensors have a negative effect on the monitoring signals. A first systematic investigation of debonding behaviors by considering actuators and sensors simultaneously was performed in this paper. The debonding areas of actuators were set in different percentage range from 0% to 70%, and sensors in 0%, 20%, 40% and 60%. The signal-based monitoring method was used to extract the characteristic parameters of both the amplitudes and phases of received signals. Experimental results revealed that as the debonding areas of the actuators increase, the normalized amplitude appears a quick decrease before 35% debonding area of actuators and then a slow rise until 60% of debonding reached. This may be explained that the 35% debonding turning point correspond to the coincidence of the excitation frequencies of peripheral actuators with the inherent frequency of the central piezoelectric sensor, and the 60% be the result of the maximum ability of piezoelectric sensor. The degrees of debonding of actuators and sensors also have significant influence on the phase angle offset, with large debonding of actuators increases the phase offset sharply. The research work may provide useful information for practical monitoring of SHM systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring)
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8 pages, 3733 KiB  
Article
3D Printing of BaTiO3 Piezoelectric Ceramics for a Focused Ultrasonic Array
by Jian Cheng, Yan Chen, Jun-Wei Wu, Xuan-Rong Ji and Shang-Hua Wu
Sensors 2019, 19(19), 4078; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19194078 - 20 Sep 2019
Cited by 59 | Viewed by 5958
Abstract
BaTiO3 (BTO) ceramics were fabricated based on stereolithography technology. The microstructures and electric properties of the BTO ceramics were studied. X-ray patterns of sintered BTO ceramics indicated that the tetragonal phase had formed, and the grain size increased clearly as BTO weight [...] Read more.
BaTiO3 (BTO) ceramics were fabricated based on stereolithography technology. The microstructures and electric properties of the BTO ceramics were studied. X-ray patterns of sintered BTO ceramics indicated that the tetragonal phase had formed, and the grain size increased clearly as BTO weight percentage increased. Moreover, the BTO ceramics exhibited good electric properties, with a piezoelectric constant d33 of 166 pC/N at 80% BTO weight percentage. To evaluate the properties of 3D printed BTO ceramics, a 1.4 MHz focused ultrasonic array was fabricated and characterized. The −6dB bandwidth of the array was 40%, and the insertion loss at the center frequency was 50 dB. The results show that the printed BTO ceramics array have good potential to be used in ultrasonic transducers for various applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring)
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21 pages, 5696 KiB  
Article
Guided Wave Propagation in Detection of Partial Circumferential Debonding in Concrete Structures
by Beata Zima
Sensors 2019, 19(9), 2199; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19092199 - 13 May 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3729
Abstract
The following article presents results of investigating the damage detection in reinforced concrete beams with artificially introduced debonding between the rod and cover, using a non-destructive method based on elastic waves propagation. The primary aim of the research was to analyze the possible [...] Read more.
The following article presents results of investigating the damage detection in reinforced concrete beams with artificially introduced debonding between the rod and cover, using a non-destructive method based on elastic waves propagation. The primary aim of the research was to analyze the possible use of guided waves in partial circumferential debonding detection. Guided waves were excited and registered in reinforced concrete specimens with varying extents of debonding damage by piezoelectric sensors attached at both ends of the beams. Experimental results in the form of time–domain signals registered for variable extent of debonding were compared, and the relationships relating to the damage size and time of flight and average wave velocity were proposed. The experimental results were compared with theoretical predictions based on dispersion curves traced for the free rod of circular cross-section and rectangular reinforced concrete cross-section. The high agreement of theoretical and experimental data proved that the proposed method, taking advantage of average wave velocity, can be efficiently used for assessing debonding size in reinforced concrete structures. It was shown that the development of damage size in circumferential direction has a completely different impact on wave velocity than development of debonding length. The article contains a continuation of work previously conducted on the detection of delamination in concrete structures. The proposed relationship is the next essential step for developing a diagnostics method for detecting debondings of any size and orientation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring)
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21 pages, 6492 KiB  
Article
Numerical Study on Ultrasonic Guided Waves for the Inspection of Polygonal Drill Pipes
by Xiang Wan, Xuhui Zhang, Hongwei Fan, Peter W. Tse, Ming Dong and Hongwei Ma
Sensors 2019, 19(9), 2128; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19092128 - 08 May 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2982
Abstract
The polygonal drill pipe is one of the most critical yet weakest part in a high-torque drill machine. The inspection of a polygonal drill pipe to avoid its failure and thus to ensure safe operation of the drilling machine is of great importance. [...] Read more.
The polygonal drill pipe is one of the most critical yet weakest part in a high-torque drill machine. The inspection of a polygonal drill pipe to avoid its failure and thus to ensure safe operation of the drilling machine is of great importance. However, the current most frequently used ultrasonic inspection method is time-consuming and inefficient when dealing with a polygonal drill pipe, which is normally up to several meters. There is an urgent need to develop an efficient method to inspect polygonal drill pipes. In this paper, an ultrasonic guided wave technique is proposed to inspect polygonal drill pipes. Dispersion curves of polygonal drill pipes are firstly derived by using the semi-analytical finite element method. The ALID (absorbing layer using increasing damping) technique is applied to eliminate unwanted boundary reflections. The propagation characteristics of ultrasonic guided waves in normal, symmetrically damaged, and asymmetrically damaged polygonal drill pipes are studied. The results have shown that the ultrasonic guided wave technique is a promising and effective method for the inspection of polygonal drill pipes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring)
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11 pages, 2383 KiB  
Article
Detection of Gaps in Concrete–Metal Composite Structures Based on the Feature Extraction Method Using Piezoelectric Transducers
by Paritosh Giri, Spandan Mishra, Simon Martin Clark and Bijan Samali
Sensors 2019, 19(8), 1769; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19081769 - 13 Apr 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3414
Abstract
A feature extraction methodology based on lamb waves is developed for the non-invasive detection and prediction of the gap in concrete–metal composite structures, such as concrete-filled steel tubes. A popular feature extraction method, partial least squares regression, is utilised to predict the gaps. [...] Read more.
A feature extraction methodology based on lamb waves is developed for the non-invasive detection and prediction of the gap in concrete–metal composite structures, such as concrete-filled steel tubes. A popular feature extraction method, partial least squares regression, is utilised to predict the gaps. The data is collected using the piezoelectric transducers attached to the external surface of the metal of the composite structure. A piezoelectric actuator generates a sine burst signal, which propagates along the metal and is received by a piezoelectric sensor. The partial least squares regression is performed on the raw sensor signal to extract features and to determine the relationship between the signal and the gap size, which is then used to predict the gaps. The applicability of the developed system is tested on two concrete-metal composite specimens. The first specimen consisted of an aluminium plate and the second specimen consisted of a steel plate. This technique is able to detect and predict gaps as low as 0.1 mm. The results demonstrate the applicability of this technique for the gap and debonding detection in concrete-filled steel tubes, which are critical in determining the degree of composite action between concrete and metal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring)
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14 pages, 1936 KiB  
Article
A Novel Mechanical Fault Feature Selection and Diagnosis Approach for High-Voltage Circuit Breakers Using Features Extracted without Signal Processing
by Lin Lin, Bin Wang, Jiajin Qi, Lingling Chen and Nantian Huang
Sensors 2019, 19(2), 288; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19020288 - 12 Jan 2019
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3548
Abstract
The reliability and performance of high-voltage circuit breakers (HVCBs) will directly affect the safety and stability of the power system itself, and mechanical failures of HVCBs are one of the important factors affecting the reliability of circuit breakers. Moreover, the existing fault diagnosis [...] Read more.
The reliability and performance of high-voltage circuit breakers (HVCBs) will directly affect the safety and stability of the power system itself, and mechanical failures of HVCBs are one of the important factors affecting the reliability of circuit breakers. Moreover, the existing fault diagnosis methods for circuit breakers are complex and inefficient in feature extraction. To improve the efficiency of feature extraction, a novel mechanical fault feature selection and diagnosis approach for high-voltage circuit breakers, using features extracted without signal processing is proposed. Firstly, the vibration signal of the HVCBs’ operating system, which collects the amplitudes of signals from normal vibration signals, is segmented by a time scale, and obviously changed. Adopting the ensemble learning method, features were extracted from each part of the divided signal, and used for constructing a vector. The Gini importance of features is obtained by random forest (RF), and the feature is ranked by the features’ importance index. After that, sequential forward selection (SFS) is applied to determine the optimal subset, while the regularized Fisher’s criterion (RFC) is used to analyze the classification ability. Then, the optimal subset is input to the hierarchical hybrid classifier, and based on a one-class support vector machine (OCSVM) and RF for fault diagnosis, the state is accurately recognized by OCSVM. The known fault types are identified using RF, and the identification results are calibrated with OCSVM of a particular fault type. The experimental proves that the new method has high feature extraction efficiency and recognition accuracy by the measured HVCBs vibration signal, while the unknown fault type data of the untrained samples is effectively identified. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring)
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15 pages, 1786 KiB  
Article
Implementation of a Piezo-diagnostics Approach for Damage Detection Based on PCA in a Linux-Based Embedded Platform
by Jhonatan Camacho, Andrés Quintero, Magda Ruiz, Rodolfo Villamizar and Luis Mujica
Sensors 2018, 18(11), 3730; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18113730 - 01 Nov 2018
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2935
Abstract
The implementation of damage-detection methods for continuously assessing structural integrity entails systems with attractive features such as storage capabilities, memory capacity, computational complexity and time-consuming processing. In this sense, embedded hardware platforms are a promising technology for developing integrated solutions in Structural Health [...] Read more.
The implementation of damage-detection methods for continuously assessing structural integrity entails systems with attractive features such as storage capabilities, memory capacity, computational complexity and time-consuming processing. In this sense, embedded hardware platforms are a promising technology for developing integrated solutions in Structural Health Monitoring. In this paper, design, test, and specifications for a standalone inspection prototype are presented, which take advantage of piezo-diagnostics principle, statistical processing via Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and embedded systems. The equipment corresponds to a piezoelectric active system with the capability to detect defects in structures, by using a PCA-based algorithm embedded in the Odroid-U3 ARM Linux platform. The operation of the equipment consists of applying, at one side of the structure, wide guided waves by means of piezoelectric devices operated in actuation mode and to record the wave response in another side of the structure by using the same kind of piezoelectric devices operated in sensor mode. Based on the nominal response of the guide wave (no damages), represented by means of a PCA statistical model, the system can detect damages between the actuated/sensed points through squared prediction error (Q-statistical index). The system performance was evaluated in a pipe test bench where two kinds of damages were studied: first, a mass is added to the pipe surface, and then leaks are provoked to the pipe structure by means of a drill tool. The experiments were conducted on two lab structures: (i) a meter carbon-steel pipe section and (ii) a pipe loop structure. The wave response was recorded between the instrumented points for two conditions: (i) The pipe in nominal conditions, where several repetitions will be applied to build the nominal statistical model and (ii) when damage is caused to the pipe (mass adding or leak). Damage conditions were graphically recognized through the Q-statistic chart. Thus, the feasibility to implement an automated real-time diagnostic system is demonstrated with minimum processing resources and hardware flexibility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring)
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19 pages, 7199 KiB  
Article
Adaptive Feedforward Compensating Self-Sensing Method for Active Flutter Suppression
by Yizhe Wang and Zhiwei Xu
Sensors 2018, 18(10), 3447; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18103447 - 13 Oct 2018
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2599
Abstract
A single piezoelectric patch can be used as both a sensor and an actuator by means of the self-sensing piezoelectric actuator, and the function of self-sensing shows several advantages in many application fields. However, some problems exist in practical application. First, a capacitance [...] Read more.
A single piezoelectric patch can be used as both a sensor and an actuator by means of the self-sensing piezoelectric actuator, and the function of self-sensing shows several advantages in many application fields. However, some problems exist in practical application. First, a capacitance bridge circuit is set up to realize the function of self-sensing, but the precise matching of the capacitance of the bridge circuit is hard to obtain due to the standardization of electric components and variations of environmental conditions. Second, a local strain is induced by the self-sensing actuator that is not related to the global vibration of the structure, which would affect the performance of applications, especially in active vibration control. The above problems can be tackled by the feedforward compensation method that is proposed in this paper. A configured piezoelectric self-sensing circuit is improved by a feedforward compensation tunnel, and a gain of compensation voltage is adjusted by the time domain and frequency domain’s steepest descent algorithms to alleviate the capacitance mismatching and local strain problems. The effectiveness of the method is verified in the experiment of the active vibration control in a wind tunnel, and the control performance of compensated self-sensing actuation is compared to the performance with capacitance mismatching and local strain. It is found that the above problems have negative effects on the stability and performance of the vibration control and can be significantly eliminated by the proposed method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring)
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10 pages, 3078 KiB  
Article
Intrinsic Sensing Properties of Chrysotile Fiber Reinforced Piezoelectric Cement-Based Composites
by Jianlin Luo, Chunwei Zhang, Lu Li, Baolin Wang, Qiuyi Li, Kwok L. Chung and Chao Liu
Sensors 2018, 18(9), 2999; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18092999 - 07 Sep 2018
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3102
Abstract
Lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) nanoscale powder was first synthesized by the sol-gel method, then PZT and 0–3 type PZT/chrysotile fiber (CSF)/cement composite (PZTCC) wafers were fabricated after grind-mixing PZT powder with strontium carbonate and/or cement, ductile CSF in tandem with press-sintered process, respectively. The crystal [...] Read more.
Lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) nanoscale powder was first synthesized by the sol-gel method, then PZT and 0–3 type PZT/chrysotile fiber (CSF)/cement composite (PZTCC) wafers were fabricated after grind-mixing PZT powder with strontium carbonate and/or cement, ductile CSF in tandem with press-sintered process, respectively. The crystal structure (XRD), microstructure (SEM), piezoelectric properties after surface silver penetration, and polarization of the PZT and PZTCC wafer were investigated. Furthermore, self-sensing responses under either impulse or cyclic loading and micro-hardness toughness of PZTCC were also investigated. Results show that the incorporation of CSF and cement admixture weakens the perovskite crystalline peak of PZTCC; reduces the corresponding piezoelectric coefficient from 119.2 pC/N to 32.5 pC/N; but effectively bridges the gap on the toughness between PZTCC and concrete since the corresponding microhardness with 202.7 MPa of PZTCC is close to that of concrete. A good linear and fast electrical response against either impulse or cyclic loading of the PZTCC is achieved with their respective sensitivity, linearity, and repeatability to 1.505 mV/N, 2.42%, and 2.11%. The sensing responses and toughness of PZTCC is encouraging as an intrinsic piezoelectric sensor for real-time health monitoring of ductile concrete structures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring)
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21 pages, 11400 KiB  
Article
A New Structural Health Monitoring Strategy Based on PZT Sensors and Convolutional Neural Network
by Mario A. De Oliveira, Andre V. Monteiro and Jozue Vieira Filho
Sensors 2018, 18(9), 2955; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18092955 - 05 Sep 2018
Cited by 110 | Viewed by 7772
Abstract
Preliminaries convolutional neural network (CNN) applications have recently emerged in structural health monitoring (SHM) systems focusing mostly on vibration analysis. However, the SHM literature shows clearly that there is a lack of application regarding the combination of PZT-(lead zirconate titanate) based method and [...] Read more.
Preliminaries convolutional neural network (CNN) applications have recently emerged in structural health monitoring (SHM) systems focusing mostly on vibration analysis. However, the SHM literature shows clearly that there is a lack of application regarding the combination of PZT-(lead zirconate titanate) based method and CNN. Likewise, applications using CNN along with the electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique applied to SHM systems are rare. To encourage this combination, an innovative SHM solution through the combination of the EMI-PZT and CNN is presented here. To accomplish this, the EMI signature is split into several parts followed by computing the Euclidean distances among them to form a RGB (red, green and blue) frame. As a result, we introduce a dataset formed from the EMI-PZT signals of 720 frames, encompassing a total of four types of structural conditions for each PZT. In a case study, the CNN-based method was experimentally evaluated using three PZTs glued onto an aluminum plate. The results reveal an effective pattern classification; yielding a 100% hit rate which outperforms other SHM approaches. Furthermore, the method needs only a small dataset for training the CNN, providing several advantages for industrial applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring)
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20 pages, 4369 KiB  
Article
Interaction of Lamb Wave Modes with Weak Material Nonlinearity: Generation of Symmetric Zero-Frequency Mode
by Xiaoqiang Sun, Xiangyan Ding, Feilong Li, Shijie Zhou, Yaolu Liu, Ning Hu, Zhongqing Su, Youxuan Zhao, Jun Zhang and Mingxi Deng
Sensors 2018, 18(8), 2451; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18082451 - 28 Jul 2018
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5541
Abstract
The symmetric zero-frequency mode induced by weak material nonlinearity during Lamb wave propagation is explored for the first time. We theoretically confirm that, unlike the second harmonic, phase-velocity matching is not required to generate the zero-frequency mode and its signal is stronger than [...] Read more.
The symmetric zero-frequency mode induced by weak material nonlinearity during Lamb wave propagation is explored for the first time. We theoretically confirm that, unlike the second harmonic, phase-velocity matching is not required to generate the zero-frequency mode and its signal is stronger than those of the nonlinear harmonics conventionally used, for example, the second harmonic. Experimental and numerical verifications of this theoretical analysis are conducted for the primary S0 mode wave propagating in an aluminum plate. The existence of a symmetric zero-frequency mode is of great significance, probably triggering a revolutionary progress in the field of non-destructive evaluation and structural health monitoring of the early-stage material nonlinearity based on the ultrasonic Lamb waves. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring)
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22 pages, 7422 KiB  
Article
Damage Detection of L-Shaped Concrete Filled Steel Tube (L-CFST) Columns under Cyclic Loading Using Embedded Piezoceramic Transducers
by Juan Zhang, Yong Li, Guofeng Du and Gangbing Song
Sensors 2018, 18(7), 2171; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18072171 - 06 Jul 2018
Cited by 45 | Viewed by 6872
Abstract
L-shaped concrete filled steel tube (L-CFST) columns are used frequently in civil engineering, and the concrete damage inside the L-CFST column is difficult to monitor. This research aims to develop a new method to monitor the internal concrete damage in the L-CFST column [...] Read more.
L-shaped concrete filled steel tube (L-CFST) columns are used frequently in civil engineering, and the concrete damage inside the L-CFST column is difficult to monitor. This research aims to develop a new method to monitor the internal concrete damage in the L-CFST column by using embedded piezoceramic smart aggregates (SAs) under low frequency cyclic loading. The SA enabled active method is used to monitor the concrete damages near the bottom of the L-CFST columns, and the wavelet packet analysis is used to establish a damage index, which is used to analyze the acquired data. During the experiment, three L-CFST columns with different wall thickness of the steel tube were tested. The experimental results find that the structural damage indices under the low-frequency cyclic loading are basically consistent with the results of the hysteretic curves and the skeleton curve of the specimens, and are in good agreement with the experimental phenomena. We conclude that the use of smart aggregate can directly and clearly reflect the damage process of the concrete core, demonstrating the feasibility of using piezoceramic smart aggregates to monitor the internal concrete damage of the L-CFST column. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring)
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14 pages, 7678 KiB  
Article
An Innovative Diagnostic Film for Structural Health Monitoring of Metallic and Composite Structures
by Dimitrios G. Bekas, Zahra Sharif-Khodaei and M.H. Ferri Aliabadi
Sensors 2018, 18(7), 2084; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18072084 - 29 Jun 2018
Cited by 52 | Viewed by 5658
Abstract
A novel lightweight diagnostic film with sensors/actuators and a multiple-path wiring option using inkjet printing was developed. The diagnostic film allows for systematic, accurate, and repeatable sensor placement. Furthermore, the film is highly flexible and adaptable for placement on complex configurations. The film [...] Read more.
A novel lightweight diagnostic film with sensors/actuators and a multiple-path wiring option using inkjet printing was developed. The diagnostic film allows for systematic, accurate, and repeatable sensor placement. Furthermore, the film is highly flexible and adaptable for placement on complex configurations. The film can be attached to the surface of the structure through a uniform secondary boundary procedure or embedded within the composite layup during curing. The surface-mounted film can simply be peeled off for repair or replacement without scratching or damaging the part. The film offers significant weight reduction compared to other available technologies. A set of extreme temperature, altitude, and vibration environment test profiles were carried out following the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) DO-160 document to assess the durability and performance of the diagnostic film for onboard application. The diagnostic film was shown to be durable and reliable in withstanding the variable operational and harsh environmental conditions of tests representing the conditions of regional aircraft. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring)
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Review

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27 pages, 6860 KiB  
Review
Piezoelectric Transducer-Based Structural Health Monitoring for Aircraft Applications
by Xinlin Qing, Wenzhuo Li, Yishou Wang and Hu Sun
Sensors 2019, 19(3), 545; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19030545 - 28 Jan 2019
Cited by 307 | Viewed by 25834
Abstract
Structural health monitoring (SHM) is being widely evaluated by the aerospace industry as a method to improve the safety and reliability of aircraft structures and also reduce operational cost. Built-in sensor networks on an aircraft structure can provide crucial information regarding the condition, [...] Read more.
Structural health monitoring (SHM) is being widely evaluated by the aerospace industry as a method to improve the safety and reliability of aircraft structures and also reduce operational cost. Built-in sensor networks on an aircraft structure can provide crucial information regarding the condition, damage state and/or service environment of the structure. Among the various types of transducers used for SHM, piezoelectric materials are widely used because they can be employed as either actuators or sensors due to their piezoelectric effect and vice versa. This paper provides a brief overview of piezoelectric transducer-based SHM system technology developed for aircraft applications in the past two decades. The requirements for practical implementation and use of structural health monitoring systems in aircraft application are then introduced. State-of-the-art techniques for solving some practical issues, such as sensor network integration, scalability to large structures, reliability and effect of environmental conditions, robust damage detection and quantification are discussed. Development trend of SHM technology is also discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Transducers: Advances in Structural Health Monitoring)
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