Construction and Building Materials 294 (2021) 123541

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Classification of the acoustic emissions generated during

the tensile fracture process in steel fibre reinforced concrete
using a waveform-based clustering method
Indrashish Saha, R. Vidya Sagar ⇑
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India

h i g h l i g h t s

Waveform analysis was performed to classify the Acoustic Emissions released during split tensile test.

Wavelet packet decomposition was implemented on the AE waveforms to extract the waveform features.

K-means ++ clustering was performed on the AE waveform features to classify into cementitious matrix cracking and steel fibre pullout.

As the volume fraction of steel fibre increases the number of AE hits corresponding to steel fibre pullout decreased.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This article reports the characterization of generated AE during the tensile fracture process in Steel fibre
Received 8 March 2021 reinforced concrete (SFRC) using Wavelet Packet Decomposition (WPD) and pattern recognition to study
Received in revised form 29 April 2021 the damage development and post-peak response in SFRC. Split-Tensile tests were performed on plain
Accepted 2 May 2021
concrete and SFRC specimen in the laboratory and the AE waveforms generated during the fracture were
Available online 15 May 2021
classified into two categories, namely (a) AE waveforms for cementitious matrix cracking and (b) AE
waveforms generated due to steel fibre pullout, by implementing unsupervised learning and supervised
Keywords:
learning techniques. It was observed that if there is active participation of steel fibres in crack bridging
Acoustic emission
Clustering
then the AE energy for fibre pullout is more. As the volume fraction of the steel fibres decreases, the num-
Wavelet packet decomposition ber of AE hits corresponding to steel fibre pullout decreases. Classification of the AE waveform may be
Pattern recognition useful to understand the development of damage during the tensile fracture process in SFRC.
Damage characterization Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Steel bars are added to concrete to provide the necessary tensile
strength to use in construction. Along with steel bars, sometimes
fibres (glass, steel, and natural fibres) are used in the concrete
[1]. The fibres contribute to crack-bridging, improves the ductility
of concrete and carries excess tensile stress developed across the
cracks [1–5]. Steel fibres are preferable over the other types of
fibres because of their high stiffness and higher strength.
The steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) finds its use in the
construction of industrial slabs, tunnel linings and precast mem-
bers [1]. The mechanical properties of the SFRC depend on the vol-
ume fraction of the fibres, its bonding with the cementitious
matrix and its arrangement across the cracks [2,6,7]. Nondestruc-
tive testing (NDT) methods, namely digital imaging correlation
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: rvsagar@iisc.ac.in (R. Vidya Sagar).
(DIC), acoustic emission (AE) testing, and X-ray, can be used to
understand the structure’s damage state without inflicting any
damage to it. AE testing is an NDT method that can detect the for-
mation of microcracks in real-time by locating and recording the
elastic waves generated during the fracture process [8].
1.1. Implementation of AE testing to study the tensile fracture process
in SFRC
To understand the individual damage mechanisms correspond-
ing to steel fibre pullout and cementitious matrix cracking, the AE
signals should be classified for each damage source. Previously,
studies have been done for composites, namely glass fibre rein-
forced composites and carbon fibre reinforced composites, using
various clustering algorithms, like, k-means, k-means++ and fuzzy
c-means [9–14]. However, studies related to the classification of
AE, the signals corresponding to cementitious matrix cracking
and steel fibre pullout is relatively new for cementitious compos-

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.123541
0950-0618/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
I. Saha and R. Vidya Sagar Construction and Building Materials 294 (2021) 123541

ts
ites. Anay et al. classified the crack growth in cement paste into Where f s;s ðt Þ ¼ p1ffiffiffi f s
and f should satisfy the inequality given in
jsj
initiation, stable and unstable crack growth using principal com-
Eq. (4) if it has to be a window function,
ponent analysis (PCA) clustering [15]. Qiu et al. performed dam-
Z þ1
age diagnosis on asphalt concrete using pattern recognition on
jf ðt Þjdt < 1 ð4Þ
recorded acoustic emission [16]. Tayfur et al. used PCA and k- 1
means algorithm on the AE parameters to classify the steel fibre
b
f ðxÞ is a continuous function and b
f ðxÞ must be zero at the ori-
pullout and reinforcement de-bonding in steel fibre reinforced
RC beam using the variation of rise time with count and the gin, which is shown in Eq. (5) Hence,
variation of duration with peak amplitude [17]. Kravchuk and Z þ1
Landis studied damage characterization in ultra-high perfor- bf ð0Þ ¼ ½f ðt Þdt ¼ 0 ð5Þ
1
mance fibre reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) using self-organizing
map and pattern recognition methods and presented how the The reconstruction formula obtained from the inverse of CWT
AE energy varies with the orientation of the steel fibres in con- does not give unique values. Hence it develops redundant informa-
crete [18]. Kaphle et al. had shown that it is possible to use the tion, and as an alternative, DWT is used to prevent data redun-
AE signals from a known source as a prototype in signal source dancy. The wavelet function can be transformed by replacing s
differentiation analysis using cross-correlation technique [19]. and s in Eq. (3) by 21j and 2mj respectively and the wavelet function
Based on the above previous studies, it can be concluded that f s;s ðtÞ can be written as
it is possible to identify AE waveform features using some proto-
type signals obtained from known sources and cross-correlating f s;s ðt Þ ¼ f 1 ;m ðt Þ ð6aÞ
2j 2j
with the experimental dataset.
j


f 1 ;m ðt Þ ¼ 22 f t:2j  m ð6bÞ
1.2. Significance of usage of AE waveforms 2j 2j

j


Conventionally, AE waveform parametric analysis is used to 22 f t:2j  m ¼ f j;m ðtÞ ð6cÞ
monitor the AE activity and to understand the damage mecha-
nisms by observing the generation of the same as a function of Thus, the DWT of a signal can be expressed as
time. The AE features including AE energy, counts, amplitude, Z þ1 h i

signal strength and absolute energy. These are dependent on DWT ðj; mÞ ¼ xðt Þf j;m ðt Þ dt ð7Þ
1
the (i) AE acquisition system and (ii) AE sensor to AE source dis-
tance [20]. Because of the attenuation, the values of the AE and its inverse transform is,
parameters decrease with the increase in distance of separation. XX
However, the AE waveform frequency spectrum is not consid- xðt Þ ¼ c j k
DWT ðj; mÞf j;m ðtÞ ð8Þ
ered limited by the distance between the AE source and the
f j;m is the mother wavelet for jth level of decomposition, and fre-
AE sensor [20]. Primarily three frequency features, namely (i)
quency parameter m and c is the inverse DWT coefficient.
initial frequency, (ii) peak frequency and (iii) frequency centroid,
are used [21–23]. Because of the above reasons in this study, the
frequency spectrum of the waveforms has been used for infor- 1.3.2. Limitations of DWT
mation extraction by implementing wavelet packet decomposi- The DWT decomposes the waveform only in the low-frequency
tion (WPD). part of each layer. The high-frequency information is neglected.
The DWT decomposes the waveform in (1,0) to (2,0) and (2,1) in
the second level and again in (3,0) and (3,1) in the third level in
1.3. Mathematical background on wavelet packet decomposition
Fig. 1.
Hence in the present study, WPD has been adopted to extract
Details from the waveform can be extracted by the repeated
the waveform features. The WPD is a multi-step decomposition
implementation of the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). The
of a signal from time domain to frequency domain [25]. Time-
definition is derived from continuous wavelet transform, which
domain representation of the signal is present at the top level of
can be defined as [24],
   WPD. There is a compromise between the time domain resolution
Z
 ts
þ1
1 and the frequency domain resolution in the subsequent levels as
CWT ðs; sÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffi xðtÞf dt ð1Þ
jsj 1 s the features are calculated. Frequency level decomposition is in
the last level of the WPD. Three-level decomposition was imple-
where s and s are the dilatational and translational parameters in mented using the WPD, thus forming eight features, each repre-

the frequency domain and time domain, respectively. f is the com- sented by a percentage of the total energy content of the
plex conjugate of the mother wavelet function. waveform. Thereby, each waveform was simplified to an 8x1 vec-
tor. In this article, a method has been proposed to classify the AE
1.3.1. Formulation of the discrete wavelet transform of waveforms signals based on a waveform-based approach using the WPD.
The mother wavelet function should satisfy the condition of
admissibility given by, 1.3.3. Formulation of WPD
 2 In Fig. 1, it can be observed that W(0,0) is the original wave-
Z b 
þ1  f ðxÞ form. In the same figure, when j equals 1, W(1,0) and W(1,1) are
Cw ¼ dx < 1 ð2Þ
1 jxj the components of the first level decomposition of the waveform,
and when j equals 2, W(2,0), W(2,1), W(2,2) and W(2,3) are com-
where bf ðxÞ is the Fourier Transform of f ðt Þ. The inverse transform ponents of the second level decomposition, and when j equals 3,
can be written as, W(3,0), W(3,1), W(3,2), W(3,3), W(3,4), W(3,5), W(3,6) and W
Z Z   (3,7) are the components of the third level decomposition. WPD
C 1 þ1 þ1
f s;s ðtÞCWT ðs; sÞds ds
w
xð t Þ ¼ ð3Þ decomposes the signal by the multiresolution analysis, focus on
jsj2 1 1 any frequency band of the signal. The number of components in
2
I. Saha and R. Vidya Sagar Construction and Building Materials 294 (2021) 123541

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of wavelet packet decomposition in three-level.

the jth layer is 2j, and the corresponding frequency bandwidth is eter). The frequency parameter (n) is introduced to overcome the


fs
where j is the decomposition level and f s is the sampling disadvantage of insufficient frequency resolution of DWT. The
2jþ1
wavelet packet coefficients of the input signal can be calculated as,
frequency.
Z
A wavelet packet can be represented as fwn ðt Þg. If uðtÞandwðt Þ
þ1 
cj;m;n ¼ xðtÞf j;m;n ðt Þ dt ð15Þ
are the scale function and the wavelet function, respectively then 1
fwn ðtÞgsatisfies the following recursive relations [25].
pffiffiffiX Where cj;m;n is the wavelet packet coefficient for the jth layer depen-
w2n ðtÞ ¼ 2 mZ hðmÞwn ð2t  mÞ ð9Þ dent on time domain parameter m and frequency parameter n.
The reconstructed components of the signal at any decomposi-
pffiffiffiX tion can be obtained as,
w2nþ1 ðt Þ ¼ 2 mZ g ðmÞwn ð2t  mÞ ð10Þ
X
xj;n ðtÞ ¼ mZ
cj;m;n f j;m;n ðt ÞDt ð16Þ
w0 ðt Þ ¼ uðtÞ ð11Þ
f j;m;n is the mother wavelet function for jth level, dependent on
w1 ðt Þ ¼ wðt Þ ð12Þ time domain parameter k and frequency domain parameter n.
The original signal can be obtained as,
Where n is a frequency parameter and m is a time-domain factor.
Coefficients of the low-pass and a high-pass filter in the multireso- X
2j
xðt Þ ¼ xj;n ðt Þ ð17Þ
lution analysis are hðmÞ and g ðmÞ, respectively. The coefficients
n¼1
hðmÞ and g ðmÞ satisfy the orthogonality condition,
Where xðt Þ is the signal; j is the decomposition level; n is a fre-
g ðmÞ ¼ ð1Þm hð1  mÞ ð13Þ quency parameter andxj;n ðt Þ is the component of the waveform in
The wavelet packet can be written as a function, jth layer and for the frequency parameter n.
j


f j;m;n ðt Þ ¼ 22 f n t:2j  m ð14Þ 2. Implementation of WPD to AE waveforms
p 
where f n ðt Þ ¼ 22 w2p þq t:2p and integer q ranges from 0 to ð2p  1) A single AE waveform, as shown in Fig. 2 can be decomposed as
and p ranges from 1 to j and n ¼ 2p þ q (subdivided octave param- a combination of any number of components. For accurate feature

Fig. 2. A sample AE waveform recorded during the split tensile test on SFRC.

3
I. Saha and R. Vidya Sagar
extraction, a condition must be fixed to select the optimal wavelet
packet bases. Minimum Shannon’s Entropy is generally used for
the wavelet packet selection, defined as [26],
X  tious matrix cracking and steel fibre pullout by using both unsu-
EðcÞ ¼  n c2n log2 c2n ð18Þ
where cn is the wavelet packet coefficient and EðcÞ is the minimum
Shannon’s entropy.
In this study it is assumed that AE hits originating from differ-
ent sources such as cementitious matrix cracking or steel fibre
pullout will be different because of varying energy distribution.
Hence the percentage of energy in various frequency bands of
the frequency spectrum can be used as features of the waveform.
The energy proportion of the reconstructed signal, xj;n ðt Þ after
the decomposition in the nth frequency range of the jth layer can
be calculated as [25],
Pt  2 by following the guidelines given by ASTM C496/C496M – 17 [27].
Ej;n ðT Þ T¼t xj;n ðT Þ
Pj;n ¼ ¼ P j P0  2 ð19Þ
Etotal ðT Þ 2 t
x ðT Þ
n¼1 T¼t0 j;n
th
T is the time variable; Pj;n is the proportion of energy at the j
level and for nth frequency band; Ej;n is the energy of the waveform
of the nth frequency band and at the jth level; Etotal is the total
energy of the waveform.
2.1. Identification of damage mechanisms during the tensile fracture in
SFRC using clustering analysis
This study assumes that WPD component vectors correspond-
ing to the same damage mechanism will have the same orienta-
tion. Cosine similarity has been used to determine the distance
between two vectors during clustering. The distance between
two vectors a and b can be calculated as [25],
Dða; bÞ ¼ 1  similarityða; bÞ ð20Þ
Where; similarityða; bÞ ¼ cosha; bi ð21aÞ
a:b
cosha; bi ¼ ð21bÞ
kak:kbk
3. Research significance
As mentioned in the introduction fracture process in steel fibre
reinforced cementitious composites is a complex phenomenon and
involves multiple mechanisms such as (i) micro crack initiation, (ii)
cementitious matrix cracking and (iii) steel fibre pullout. Steel
fibres improve the tensile strength of the concrete and increase
the ductility of the material. This essentially means that steel fibres
improve the post-peak response of the concrete. The damage
mechanism in SFRC comprises mainly two mechanisms, cementi-
tious matrix cracking and steel fibre pullout. It is important to clas-
sify these two mechanisms to understand the post-peak behaviour
of the SFRC.
The present study may be useful to identify when a steel fibre
reinforced structure reaches a critical condition of impending fail-
ure in-service. During health monitoring structures cast with SFRC,
if the magnitude of the separated AE parameters such as AE Energy,
AE counts corresponding to steel fibre pullout becomes more than
the value of the AE parameters due to cementitious matrix crack-
ing, then the observations can be useful to signify that the struc-
ture is under critical condition and may fail.
4
Construction and Building Materials 294 (2021) 123541
4. Aim of the study
The aim is to classify the AE signals corresponding to cementi-
pervised and supervised clustering techniques. Changes in the
cumulative AE energy for individual mechanisms and the variation
of individual damage index has been studied.
5. Experimental program
The method of obtaining AE signals corresponding to steel fibre
pullout by performing split tensile testing is relatively new and can
be used as an alternative approach to half dog-bone type specimen
to perform the pullout test for a single steel fibre as used by Krav-
chuk and Landis [18]. A hydraulic testing machine (2000 kN capac-
ity) was used for the split tensile test, and the tests were performed
An eight-channel AE monitoring system was used to monitor the
generated acoustic emissions.
5.1. Materials
SFRC cylindrical specimens (150 mm diameter and 300 mm
height) with a fibre volume fraction of 0%, 0.8% and 2% were used.
The ratio between the length of the steel fibre to its diameter is
equal to sixty. The tensile strength of the used steel fibre was
1178 MPa. For the plain concrete specimens, the mix proportions
were 1:1.69: 1.51 by weight. For the SFRC specimens, the mixture
proportions (Cement: Sand: Coarse Aggregate) were 1:2:1.78 and
1:1.92:1.72 by weight for the SFRC with the volume fraction of
0.8% and 2.0%, respectively. The water-cement ratio by weight for
both SFRC specimens and plain concrete specimens was 0.45.
5.2. Test specimens
The nomenclature of the specimens in Table 1 is SFCx-y-S,
where SFC stands for steel fibre reinforced concrete, x is as per
the volume fraction of steel fibre (1 for 0.8% and 2 for 2.0%), y is
the sequential number of the specimen in the series and S stands
for the Split tensile tests.
The plain concrete specimens have been named PCC-a-S, where
PCC stands for the plain concrete, a stand for the serial number in
the series, and S stands for split tensile test. For example, SFC1-1-S
refers to a steel fibre reinforced concrete specimen with a volume
fraction of steel, 0.8%, and it is the first specimen for this series.
5.3. Testing procedure
The split tensile tests were performed in two stages, namely the
first stage represented by the number (1–0) and the second stage
represented by the number (1–1). Stage (1–0) was performed on
the untested specimen, or the virgin test specimen and stage (1–
1) was performed on the tested specimen. Stage (1–1) was exe-
cuted to record AE waveform data corresponding to the steel fibre
pullout to train the pattern recognition algorithm. The reason
behind this stage of testing was that most of the cementitious
matrix cracking had occurred along with a few steel fibre pullouts
during the stage (1–0). As a result, during the second stage (1–1),
most of the AE waveform data obtained was most, corresponding
to steel fibre pullout. Stage (1–1) was used as an indirect method
to record the AE waveforms generated during the steel fibre pull-
out for the purpose of training the pattern recognition algorithm.
I. Saha and R. Vidya Sagar Construction and Building Materials 294 (2021) 123541

Table 1
Recorded AE hit parameters and steel fibre content.

AE waveform parameters Tensile Strength (MPa)

Specimen Steel fiber content Vf (%) Hits Energy (volt-s) Counts
SFC1-1-S 0.8 48,924 15,341,802 18,549,445 3.61
SFC1-2-S 0.8 143,486 6,751,031 5,326,792 2.74
SFC1-3-S 0.8 34,395 832,631 374,221 2.94
SFC2-1-S 2.0 36,685 799,690 301,215 5.06
SFC2-2-S 2.0 17,913 147,439 393,021 4.37
SFC2-3-S 2.0 9768 85,365 231,941 3.81
SFC2-4-S 2.0 28,722 210,194 607,989 4.45
PCC-1-S 0 9230 452,078 314,030 2.61
PCC-2-S 0 9825 1,061,802 592,939 2.99

Fig. 3. (a) SFRC split tensile test specimen with attached AE sensors during the first stage (1–0) (b) SFRC split tensile test specimen for second stage (1–1); V f ¼ 0:8%.

Fig. 4. Procedure to implement the clustering method.

5
I. Saha and R. Vidya Sagar Construction and Building Materials 294 (2021) 123541

Fig. 5. (a) Silhouette index variation and (b) Davies-Bouldin index variation.

Table 2
Frequency ranges for each feature at the third decomposition level (or node three).

Nodes W (3,0) W (3,1) W (3,2) W (3,3) W (3,4) W (3,5) W (3,6) W (3,7)

AE energy features F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8
Frequency Range (kHz) 0–62.5 62.5–125.0 125.0–187.5 187.5–250.0 250.0–312.5 312.5–375.0 375.0–437.5 437.5–500.0

Fig. 6. Feature-wise Energy distribution of (a) cementitious matrix cracking AE waveform and (b) steel fibre pullout.
6
I. Saha and R. Vidya Sagar Construction and Building Materials 294 (2021) 123541

Fig. 7. Distribution of the AE waveforms after implementation of the clustering procedure on (a) SFC1-1-S (V f ¼ 0:8%Þ (b) SFC1-2-S (V f ¼ 0:8%Þ and (c) SFC2-1-S
(V f ¼ 2:0%ÞAE waveforms.

Fig. 8. (a) AE waveform corresponding to cementitious matrix cracking, (b) Scalogram showing the frequency-time distribution and (c) AE waveform in the frequency
domain.

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I. Saha and R. Vidya Sagar
5.4. AE monitoring setup
The piezoelectric sensors used in the experimental study were
resonant type differential sensors. The sensors had a resonance fre-
quency of 57 kHz. The preamplifier gain (2/4/6 AST) was set at
40 dB. The acoustic emission detection threshold was set at
40 dB. The three AE sensors were mounted on either side of the
probable crack plane. Fig. 3 shows the specimen SFC1-1-S before
(a) first stage testing (1–0) and the sensor layout and (b) after
the first stage testing (1–0). Pencil lead break (PLB) tests were per-
formed on each specimen before each experiment and an average
peak amplitude obtained was 98 dB. The PDT (peak definition
time) was set at 200ls, the HDT (hit definition time) was set at
800ls, and the HLT (hit lockout time) was set at 1000ls. 2-D local-
ization setup was used for capturing the AE events generated dur-
ing the tensile fracture process on the planar surface of the
cylinder. The sampling rate for the acquisition system was 1MSPS
(one million samples per second) or 1 MHz.
Fig. 9. (a) AE waveform corresponding to steel fibre Pullout (b) Scalogram showing the frequency-time distribution and (c) AE waveform in the frequency domain.
8
Construction and Building Materials 294 (2021) 123541
6. Results and discussion
The first stage (1–0) was performed on the untested specimen,
and the second stage (1–1) was performed on the tested specimen
after the first stage (1–0). The step-by-step procedure of imple-
mentation of the clustering model is shown in Fig. 4. In the same
figure, step  1 and step  2 refer to how the AE waveforms are
generated during the experiment and are recorded. Step  3 refers
to the pre-processing of the AE waveform data. Details related to
step-4 to step-8 are discussed in the following subsections.
6.1. Implementing k-means++ algorithm to the AE waveforms to
separate them into clusters (cementitious matrix cracking and steel
fibre pullout) before using the pattern recognition
The k-means++ algorithm, as shown in step  4 of Fig. 4, was
used on the waveforms recorded during the second stage (1–1)
testing of SFRC. Also, AE waveforms were recorded during the plain
I. Saha and R. Vidya Sagar
concrete testing. These two tests were performed to provide data
for the training of the pattern recognition algorithm. The expected
optimum cluster number was two since the focus is on only two
damage mechanisms, namely cementitious matrix cracking and
steel fibre pullout.
Silhouette index and Davies-Bouldin index helps to evaluate the
optimal number for a dataset as shown in Fig. 5a and Fig. 5b,
respectively validate our assumption. The silhouette index
decreased as the number of clusters reaches a minimum but
Davies-Bouldin index decreases while the Davies-Bouldin index
increases with a better clustering solution [28,29]. Each AE wave-
form was pre-processed using the WPD. In a three-level WPD,
the frequency spectrum of 500 kHz is divided into eight parts of
approximately 62 kHz as shown in Table 2.
Fig. 10. Variation of AE energy with load for both cementitious matrix cracking and steel fibre pullout (a) SFC1-1-S (1 – 0) and (b) SFC1-2-S (1 – 0).
9
Construction and Building Materials 294 (2021) 123541
6.2. Preparation of training data for the pattern recognition algorithm
The AE waveforms were recorded during split tensile tests on
plain concrete specimens (PCC-1-S and PCC-2-S) and the second
stage (1–1) testing on SFRC specimens (SFC1-1-S and SFC1-2-S).
A total of 17,484 AE waveforms generated during cementitious
matrix cracking and 56,754 AE waveforms generated during steel
fibre pullout. K-means++ algorithm was implemented on the
waveforms. WPD was performed for each waveform before imple-
menting the k-means++ algorithm. Distribution of AE Energy pro-
portion over the eight features (in Fig. 2 for j = 3), obtained from
WPD, for cementitious matrix, cracking and steel fibre pullout
are shown in Fig. 6a and Fig. 6b, respectively. From these figures,
it can be observed that during cementitious matrix cracking, major
I. Saha and R. Vidya Sagar
Fig. 11. Variation of AE energy with load for both cementitious matrix cracking and steel fibre pullout (a) SFC2-1-S (1 – 0) and (b) SFC2-2-S (1 – 0).
energy concentration is in feature 2, and for steel fibre pullout, the
major energy concentration is in feature 1. There is an increase in
the number of hits related to matrix cracking after the implemen-
tation of k-means++ clustering.
6.3. Implementation of the pattern recognition algorithm to the AE
waveform data
In step  7 as shown in Fig. 4, for the supervised network train-
ing, a two-layer feedforward network with one hidden and one
output layer was used for the pattern recognition problem. In step
 6 of Fig. 4 shows the input data for the pattern recognition
model. The Neural Network toolbox available in MATLAB was used
for pattern recognition [30]. The network was trained with the
scaled conjugate gradient algorithm. The dataset used for training
the network consisted of 74,238 AE waveforms (56754 for steel
fibre pullout and 17,484 for cementitious matrix cracking), col-
lected from k-means++ clustering. Log-sigmoid and softmax func-
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Construction and Building Materials 294 (2021) 123541
tions were used in hidden and output layers for the back-
propagation algorithm, available in MATLAB. The softmax function
takes any vector of real numbers as input and returns a probability
distribution with values proportional to the exponential of the
input numbers. The output vector contains numbers in the range
(0,1) and add up to 1 [31]. In step-8a and step-8b of Fig. 4, classified
waveforms are obtained. The number of waveforms classified as
cementitious matrix cracking and steel fibre pullout for specimens
SFC1-1-S, SFC1-2-S and SFC2-1-S are summarized in Fig. 7.
6.4. The classified waveforms after clustering
CWT and FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) of the classified wave-
forms for cementitious matrix cracking and steel fibre pullout are
shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9, respectively. Fig. 8a and Fig. 9a show
the voltage versus time variation of the waveform. Fig. 8b and
Fig. 9b show the frequency-time distribution of the AE waveform
as obtained by executing the CWT in a scalogram. It plots the abso-
I. Saha and R. Vidya Sagar Construction and Building Materials 294 (2021) 123541

Fig. 12. Variation of the Cumulative AE energy for two different fibre arrangement orientation i.e., Optimum orientation and Pessimum orientation.

Fig. 13. Damage index curve for (a) SFC1-1-S (1 – 0) and (b) SFC1-2-S (1 – 0).

11
I. Saha and R. Vidya Sagar
Fig. 14. AE based b-value variations with time for cementitious matrix cracking and steel fibre pullout in SFC1-1-S specimen.
lute value of the CWT coefficients for a waveform as a function of
time and frequency. Fig. 8c and Fig. 9c show the frequency domain
representation of the AE waveform, obtained by executing the FFT
on the AE waveforms. As observed in the same figure, there is a
shift in the frequency range for cementitious matrix cracking
(100 kHz  300 kHz) and steel fibre pullout (0 kHz  100 kHz).
6.5. Variation of the cumulative AE energy
It is interesting to observe from the trend in the variation of AE
energy with time in Fig. 10 once the AE waveforms are separated.
The AE energy corresponding to fibre pullout is more than that of
cementitious matrix cracking. In Fig. 10a, the AE energy curve of
cementitious matrix cracking is more than that of steel fibre pull-
out, but the AE energy for fibre pullout increases as most of the
matrix has been cracked under the load. Therefore, due to the
bridging effect of the steel fibres, most of the hits that were
recorded are due to the steel fibre pullout and hence it is observed
that the curve representing the AE energy due to steel fibre pullout
moves above the AE energy released due to cementitious matrix
cracking. In the same figure, it can be observed that in the AE
energy curve for cementitious matrix cracking, there is a decrease
in slope as it enters Region - III while the AE energy curve for steel
fibre pullout slope keeps on increasing in Region - I, Region - II and
Region - III. However, in Fig. 10b, the AE energy curve for steel fibre
pullout falls below the AE energy curve for matrix cracking. The
reason is that the fibre arrangement for this specimen is not con-
tributing to crack bridging and does not add to the tensile strength
of the SFRC significantly. Hence, a fewer number of steel fibre pull-
out had taken place. The reason behind this is that under the load,
first, the cementitious matrix fractures, and after that, the steel
fibre pullout takes place. As the load increases, the bond failure
between the cementitious matrix and the steel fibre takes place,
and finally, the steel fibre pullout occurs. At this instant, the AE
energy due to steel fibre pullout exceeds the AE energy of cemen-
titious matrix cracking. Hence in the same figure, it is observed
that the slope of the AE energy curve due to cementitious matrix
cracking increases, and the slope of the AE energy curve due to
12
Construction and Building Materials 294 (2021) 123541
steel fibre pullout becomes nearly parallel to the time axis in
Region-III. Although the observations are known, the present study
confirms the results obtained in previous literature [18].
6.5.1. Variation of AE energy with the increase in the volume fraction
of steel fibre
When the volume fraction (Vf) of the steel fibre was increased
from 0.8% to 2.0%, the AE hits corresponding to the steel fibre pull-
out was significantly less compared to the cementitious matrix
cracking in the specimens SFC2-1-S and SFC2-2-S as shown in
Fig. 11. In the same figure, the AE energy has been plotted in a
semi-log scale to make the difference in their magnitude observ-
able. The reason behind this observation is that during the total
duration of the experiment, only cementitious matrix cracking
has taken place, and because of a high density of the steel fibres,
no significant steel fibre pullout takes place. The reason for the dif-
ference in the behaviour of the AE energy curves is presented in
Fig. 12.
6.6. Variation of damage index based on AE energy
The damage index variation shows the same trend in both spec-
imens (SFC1-1-S and SFC1-2-S). The damage index is calculated
from Eq. (21) [32],
Pt¼b
t¼0 AEEnergy
DamageIndexðtÞ ¼ Pt¼T ð21Þ
t¼0 AEEnergy
where T is the time corresponding to the end of the experiment, and
bis the time corresponding to any time during the experiment.
Fig. 13 shows the variation of damage index for cementitious matrix
cracking and steel fibre pullout, respectively. Initially, the damage
due to the matrix cracking is significant, and after some time, the
damage index value due to the steel fibre pullout becomes more
than the damage index. The combined effect of their damage
remains in between the two graphs. Although the relative position
of the two curves remains independent of the arrangement of the
fibres, in the second case, in Fig. 13b, it is observed that the damage
I. Saha and R. Vidya Sagar Construction and Building Materials 294 (2021) 123541

Fig. 15. AE based b-value variations with time for cementitious matrix cracking and steel fibre pullout in SFC1-2-S specimen.

Fig. 16. Comparison of the b -value variation with damage index.

index curve for fibre pullout almost merges with the overall damage
index. This implies that the fibre bridging effect is not much pro-
nounced due to the fibre orientation across the crack plane in spec-
imen SFC1-2-S.
By following Colombo et al. AE based b-value (slope of the fre-
quency of occurrence and peak amplitude distribution curve) was
computed using the AE hits recorded during cementitious matrix
cracking and steel fibre pullout [33]. Fig. 14 and Fig. 15 shows
the AE based b-value variation with load for the specimen SFC1-
13
1-S and SFC1-2-S, respectively. It reaches the minimum value
before the b-value corresponding to steel fibre pullout.
The reason could be high amplitude AE (in less number) were
released quickly during cementitious matrix cracking than steel
fibre pullout. After a sudden drop in AE based b-value it recovered
during the post-peak regime, and more low amplitude AE hits in
the post-peak can also be observed. The reason is the softening
behaviour of the SFRC in the post-peak regime when most of the
AE hits are generated due to the steel fibre pullout. This observa-
I. Saha and R. Vidya Sagar
tion confirms the fact that steel fibre pullout begins only after the
cementitious matrix has been cracked. In Fig. 16, a relative varia-
tion of the b-Value and the damage index has been shown. It can
be observed from the plot that when the b-value suddenly drops
to a minimum value, at that instant the damage index of the SFRC
specimen starts increasing.
7. Application of WPD and pattern recognition algorithms to
classify the AE waveforms generated during fracture process in
reinforced concrete beams
During the fracture process in a reinforced concrete (RC) struc-
tural member both tensile type cracking and shear type cracking
occurs. Fig. 17a shows the various steps involved in separation of
AE waveforms related to tensile mode of fracture and shear mode
of fracture using wavelet packet decomposition (WPD). Fig. 17b
shows steps involved in acquiring AE waveforms corresponding
to steel reinforcement de-bonding.
Researchers attempted to classify the AE waveforms generated
during fracture process in a RC beam cast with steel fibres using
Fig. 17. Flow charts showing the various steps involved in the separation of AE waveform corresponding to (a) tensile mode of fracture and shear mode of fracture (b) steel
reinforcement de-bonding using WPD.
14
Construction and Building Materials 294 (2021) 123541
principal component analysis and k-means clustering method
[17]. It is known that shear resistance in a steel fibre reinforced
RC member is increased by a factor of the fibre pullout strength
of the steel fibres as given in Eq. (22),
V ¼ Va þ Vc þ Vd þ Vf ð22Þ
where V is the total shear force developed in the RC structural
member, V c is the shear force in the compression zone of the RC
member, V a is the aggregate interlocking force, V d is the dowel
action of the steel bars and V f is the vertical component of the steel
fibre pullout force [34].
The steel fibres have yield strength nearly 1200 MPa. During in-
service, the steel fibre may not reach the yield strength. Because
steel fibre’s tensile stress carrying capacity is constrained by bond
strength between steel fibre and cementitious matrix. When the
maximum bond strength is reached under the loading, the tensile
stress in the steel fibre does not increase unless the deflection of
the RC beam increases [35]. The steel fibres are under a tensile
force which causes the pullout, and this behavior is essentially sim-
ilar to pullout during the tensile fracture process in the split tensile
I. Saha and R. Vidya Sagar
test. As a result, AE waveforms related to steel fibre pullout due to
shear mode of fracture in RC member can be separated from the
recorded AE waveforms. The steel fibre pullout can occur in an
SFRC specimen during (i) tensile cracking (ii) both tensile cracking
and shear cracking. However, the classification of the steel fibre
pullout due to shear and tensile cracking has not been attempted
in this study. One method to separate the AE waveforms during
pullout due to shear and tensile cracking is by using well known
RA-AF analysis [36–38].
8. Conclusions
Based on the above experimental observations, the given below
conclusions are drawn.
1. Damage index variation plotted for the individual damage
mechanisms, namely cementitious matrix cracking and steel fibre
pullout show a similar trend in all the samples irrespective of the
fibre orientation across the crack plane.
2. The WPD shows that the highest energy concentrations of the
original waveform for steel fibre pullout and cementitious matrix
cracking correspond to F1 (0–62.5 kHz) and F2 (62.5–125 kHz),
respectively.
3. The total AE energy released changes with the orientation of
the steel fibres across the crack plane for SFRC specimens with the
same geometry, same material and tested under the same loading
condition. If the steel fibres were actively preventing the crack
growth, then AE energy was more in that case, and if the steel
fibres were not contributing significantly to crack bridging, then
the recorded AE energy was less.
4. As the volume fraction of the steel fibre content increases, the
number of AE hits corresponding to steel fibre pullout decreases,
and most of the recorded hits correspond to cementitious matrix
cracking.
5. The FFT of the AE waveforms for steel fibre pullout is in the
range of 150 kHz300 kHz and for cementitious matrix cracking
in 0 kHz150 kHz. This study may be helpful to identify when
the structure has reached a critical condition and is impending
collapse.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Indrashish Saha: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investiga-
tion, Formal Analysis, Data Curation, Writing - original draft. R.
Vidya Sagar: Investigation, Writing - review & editing, Supervision,
Resources, Project Administration, Validation.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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