Piezoelectric active sensing system for crack detection in concrete structure

This paper presents an active piezoelectric sensing system for concrete crack detection that is based on the energy diffusivity method. The feasibility of using the energy diffusivity of ultrasound to characterize the structural integrity of a pavement is first analyzed. Experiments are then carried out to evaluate the performance of this approach to crack detection. In addition, the detectable range of this system is studied by testing it with cuttings at different angles and different distances between sensor and actuator. Results show that by analyzing the energy diffusivity density of the sensor responses, cracks in the concrete specimen can be detected. This crack detection system can be used in highway and airport pavement slabs for pavement health monitoring applications.