Investigation of Active Tagged Composites for Army Infrastructure Applications

摘要

Deterioration of reinforced concrete structures due to corrosion of thereinforcing steel is a very expensive infrastructure decay problem. Advanced composites, such as fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP), can eliminate many problems related to steel reinforcement because of their excellent fatigue resistance, corrosion resistance, and their very high specific strength. Acceptance of composites in retrofit applications and new construction creates the need for in-service monitoring techniques to ensure material performance and serviceability, but conventional nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods are not applicable. Particle tagging technology can enhance the inspectability of advanced composites. Tagging involves embedding micron-size particles into materials to make them an integral part of the host material. When interrogated by suitable instrumentation, the embedded particle sensors interact with their host structures and generate certain types of measurable signatures. The signatures can then be correlated with material and structural conditions. The objective of this research is to understand the physics and mechanisms involved in using the tagging method for in-situ NDE of composite materials for infrastructure applications. Several tagging methods have been proposed, modelled theoretically and evaluated experimentally. Ferromagnetic and magnetostrictive tagging methods were found to have high potential for in-service QC/QA inspection of infrastructure structural composites.