This paper presents the development of a braided reinforced composite rod (BCR) able toboth reinforce and monitor the stress state of concrete elements. Carbon fibers have been used assensing and reinforcing material along with glass fiber. Various composites rods have been producedusing an author patented technique based on a modified conventional braiding machine. The materialsinvestigated were prepared with different carbon fiber content as follows: BCR2 (77% glass/23%carbon fiber), BCR3 (53% glass/47% carbon fiber), BCR4 (100% carbon fiber). BCRs have beentested under bending while the variation of the electrical resistance was simultaneously monitored.The correlations obtained between deformation and electrical resistance show the suitability of therods to be used as sensors. The fractional resistance change versus strain plots show that the gagefactor increases with decreasing carbon fiber content.
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