PSI - Issue 44

Hasan Borke Birgin et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 44 (2023) 1624–1631 Hasan Borke Birgin et al. / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2022) 000–000

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Fig. 6. Dynamic test results of the beam with embedded sensors, the impacts are located consecutively on the sensors 1-2-3, raw readings, and frequency-time analysis from the data coming from: (a) sensor 1; (b) sensor 2; (c) sensor 3 (Fig. 1(b)).

5.1. Discussion The tests carried out on the two types of smart concrete beams showed interesting preliminary results with important remarks. Firstly, the study on full-scale elements demonstrated that dynamic analysis of the structural members is achievable with the use of smart materials. However, there are two factors that need to be discussed. The first is the polarization effect of cementitious materials under DC voltage. The polarization drift strongly influences the analysis of the raw signals obtained from smart sensors. This effect could be reduced increasing the time of acquisition, or by filters. The second factor is the noise observed during the tests. The type of noise observed during this study is due to the impedance of the electrical sensing circuit and the characteristics of the analog-to-digital converter of the data acquisition equipment. The system design could be improved by reducing the impedance of the sensing circuit, or by modifying the hardware. Both factors influence the quality of the outputs and could be reduced tailoring the sensitivity of the smart material and the acquisition procedure.