Comparative Performance of Four Electrodes for Measuring the Electromechanical Response of Self-Damage Detecting Concrete under Tensile Load

Self-damage or/and stress-sensing concrete is a promising area of research for measuring the electromechanical response of structural materials using more robust sensors. However, the copper and silver paste sensors widely used in such applications can be expensive and have detrimental effects on the load carrying capacity and durability of the structural systems upon which they are installed. Accordingly, this study compared the performance of four electrode types—conventional copper tape with silver paste (CS), copper film with type 1 carbon tape (CC1), copper film with type 2 carbon tape (CC2), and copper wire and film with type 2 carbon tape (WC2)—to develop an economical and practical electrode for measuring the electromechanical response of self-damage-detecting concrete. The CC1 electrode exhibited comparable performance to the CS electrode in measuring the electromechanical response of self-damage-detecting concrete, despite requiring a longer polarization time (80 s) than the CS electrode (25 s). The CS electrode exhibited a higher damage-sensing capacity (GF(2)), whereas the CC1 electrode exhibited a higher strain-sensing capacity (GF(1)), as well as good damage-sensing capacity. Therefore, the CC1 electrode using copper film with type 1 carbon tape was determined to be the best alternative to the conventional CS electrode.