Monitoring Concrete Deterioration Due to Reinforcement Corrosion by Integrating Acoustic Emission and FBG Strain Measurements

Corrosion of concrete reinforcement members has been recognized as a predominant structural deterioration mechanism for steel reinforced concrete structures. Many corrosion detection techniques have been developed for reinforced concrete structures, but a dependable one is more than desired. Acoustic emission technique and fiber optic sensing have emerged as new tools in the field of structural health monitoring. In this paper, we present the results of an experimental investigation on corrosion monitoring of a steel reinforced mortar block through combined acoustic emission and fiber Bragg grating strain measurement. Constant current was applied to the mortar block in order to induce accelerated corrosion. The monitoring process has two aspects: corrosion initiation and crack propagation. Propagation of cracks can be captured through corresponding acoustic emission whereas the mortar expansion due to the generation of corrosion products will be monitored by fiber Bragg grating strain sensors. The results demonstrate that the acoustic emission sources comes from three different types, namely, evolution of hydrogen bubbles, generation of corrosion products and crack propagation. Their corresponding properties are also discussed. The results also show a good correlation between acoustic emission activity and expansive strain measured on the specimen surface.