Non-destructive Inspection and Monitoring of Fractures in Concrete with Self-healing Properties

Studying the properties of self-healing concrete, non-destructive testing techniques are beneficial to monitor the opening of cracks under load as well as the activation and efficiency of healing agents. The localization of defects and activation of self-healing agents, e.g. capturing the breakage of the encapsulation, is realized by the acoustic emission analysis (AEA) during the mechanical loading of concrete beams. The rebind of crack flanks due to an adhesive self-healing agent is verified by AEA and ultrasonic time of flight (ToF) method. Several proof-of-concept experiments were performed for test samples with selectively initiated fractures. To enhance the durability of infrastructure constructions by predictive maintenance of heterogeneous, self-healing components, a further step in signal analysis must be taken to evaluate online monitoring results even for unpredicted initial micro-crack formation and selective healing. Ultrasound signal correlation analysis is discussed regarding damage detection as well as the verification of self-healing properties.     «

Studying the properties of self-healing concrete, non-destructive testing techniques are beneficial to monitor the opening of cracks under load as well as the activation and efficiency of healing agents. The localization of defects and activation of self-healing agents, e.g. capturing the breakage of the encapsulation, is realized by the acoustic emission analysis (AEA) during the mechanical loading of concrete beams. The rebind of crack flanks due to an adhesive self-healing agent is verified b...     »