Assessment of health monitoring and NDE of composites used for renewal of civil infrastructure

摘要

Structural rehabilitation of concrete structures by fiber reinforced composite materials continues to grow in popularity, without the precise knowledge of short- and long-term effects of material defects on durability and structural performance. Although most defect types are known, flaw criticality along with means of locating defects inside a composite overlay remain in the dark. Successful structural rehabilitation thus demands the awareness for presence of defects and a thorough knowledge of their potential effects. Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods show a high potential for locating defects, however, a high demand for investigation in this field still remains.