Materials Today: Proceedings 78 (2023) 28–35

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Materials Today: Proceedings

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A review on smart aggregate based structural health monitoring

Sriparna Singh ⇑, A.K. Sachan, Rama Shanker
Department of Civil Engineering, MNNIT Allahabad, Prayagraj 211004, India

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

Article history: Concrete structures are prone to damage and deterioration in their health due to environmental effects,
Available online 12 November 2022 aging, etc., leading to failure prior to their intended service life. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is an
innovative technique adopted for assessing the structural health, damage identification and assessing the
Keywords: residual life of the structure. The conventional techniques have proved to be inefficient as they required
SHM prior information about the vicinity of the damage and accessibility to the damaged region of the struc-
PZT patch ture. The development of various sensors such as fiber optical sensor (FOS), piezoelectric transducers
Smart aggregate
have proved to efficient. This study presents the introduction and the fundamental concept of the latest
Active Sensing System
Damage Index
sensor in trend in the domain of SHM, the piezoceramic-based Smart Aggregate (SA). The applications of
RMSD SA under various loadings for concrete structures have been reviewed. Also, the damage indices devel-
oped for 1-D and 2-D structural components for assessing the damage status in the structure have been
summarized. It was established that the smart aggregate is capable of damage detection, health monitor-
ing (concrete columns, shear wall, frames) and impact detection(concrete piles).
Copyright Ó 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
ence on Technological Interventions for Sustainability.

1. Introduction prior to the visibility of external evidence of damage. Since, the

Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures are most widely accepted
around the world in civil community. There are several factors
involving environmental effects, aging, lack of quality control, fati-
gue, etc., which contributes in deteriorating the health and perfor-
mance of the RC structures. Moreover, natural hazards such as
earthquakes pose serious damage and can cause threat to the per-
formance, serviceable and residual life of RC structures and also to
human life. Therefore, throughout the serviceable life of a RC struc-
ture the structural integrity must be maintained. To assess the
structural health, damage identification, residual life of RC struc-
ture, continuous monitoring of the of structural performance of
RC structure on regular basis is necessary. It allows us to generate
a prior warning of occurrence of damage at incipient level only by
observing the changing trends of the observed parameter so that
appropriate precautionary measures could be implemented. This
led us to a technique involved in monitoring the health status of
the structure and to detect the presence, location and severity of
damage is known as SHM. This will allow us to implement relevant
retrofitting techniques according to the damage in the structures
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sriparnas95@gmail.com (S. Singh).
structure will be able to function well throughout its intended life,
the resources involved in the construction will be optimally uti-
lized, the demolition of the structures and the rehabilitation costs
will be reduced considerably [1]. Thus, SHM can be considered as a
sustainable approach.
In recent decades, SHM has drawn attention of many research-
ers resulting in major findings in the field. SHM has proven to be an
essential tool for detecting the evolution of damage, ensuring
integrity, safety and estimating the performance of civil infrastruc-
tures. In the past, the researchers have focused on low frequency
vibration methods based on variations in natural frequencies,
mode shapes, modal damping, stiffness, flexibility etc. The mode
shape curvature method [2], stiffness method [3] and flexibility
method [4] have been successfully studied. The mode shape
curvature-based technique is capable for damage detection and
localization, but quantification of damage is not possible through
this technique [6]. In general, the vibration methods exploit first
few global modes which are global parameter and remains unal-
tered on the occurrence of local damage. Hence, vibration methods
tend to fail in the detection of incipient damage. The conventional
non-destructive evaluation techniques of SHM such as ultrasonic
wave propagation, acoustic emission, eddy current, and thermal
field have serious limitations for in situ applications. These tech-

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2022.10.246
2214-7853/Copyright Ó 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Technological Interventions for Sustainability.
S. Singh, A.K. Sachan and R. Shanker
niques necessitate the requirement of prior knowledge regarding
the vicinity of damage and access to the structural components
to be inspected which is sometimes not possible. To obtain the
knowledge about the vicinity of damage visual inspection is per-
formed. The cracks or the damage visible from the naked eye at
the surface will be noticed but the cracks under the surface will
be left unnoticed and may come up to the surface when they have
become critical, endangering the integrity of the component. This
limitation has resulted in the development of sensors, deployed
in an array in the structural component from which required infor-
mation (structural performance and damage status) can be
extracted by continuous monitoring ensuring integrity of the
structure.
Various sensors such as FOS, including fiber bragg grating and
distributed FOS, have been developed for detecting damage and
monitoring of structures [5–8]. However, FOSs due to its limita-
tions such as fragile nature, expensive and detects only local dam-
age, limits its applications .
The developments in recent years in the field of SHM have been
focused to transducers (sensors and actuators) with piezoceramic
materials i.e., lead zirconate titanate(PZT). The researchers have
found piezoelectric transducers to achieve good results for health
monitoring of RC structures due to certain advantages such as high
bandwidth, low cost, high sensitivity, instant response, availability
in various configurations, and ease in implementation, handling
and execution. However, due to its fragile nature, the piezoelectric
transducer can easily be damaged during the concrete casting pro-
cess. Thus, the latest development in piezoceramic sensor is
piezoceramic-based SA.
This study reviews and summarizes the experimental work per-
formed till date in health monitoring of RC structures using SA
under different loading conditions and verify the effectiveness of
SA under seismic loading and on various types of RC structures.
This study also includes the demonstration of various damage
indices developed for assessing the damage severity.
The three major approaches utilizing piezoelectric in the
domain of SHM are as follows:
a. The impedance-based approach: It is a damage monitoring
technique capable of rapidly analysing the health status of
the structure and generating a prior early warning simulta-
neously [9–11]. The working principle is to exploit the cou-
pling property (direct and indirect effect) of PZT patch. The
occurrence of damage causes change in the mechanical
impedance of the structure. Since, it is difficult to extract
mechanical impedance of the structure, the electrical impe-
dance of PZT patch is obtained in this method. A corelation
has been well established between the mechanical impe-
dance of the host structure and the electrical impedance of
the PZT patch [12–14]. Electrical impedance at healthy and
damaged state is then compared to determine the structural
health of the structure. It is implemented at frequencies
greater than 30 kHz to ensure high sensitivity in detecting
incipient damage [15]. The impedance-based approach has
been tested on a space truss [13], aluminium samples [16],
composite laminates [17]. The applications in civil engineer-
ing were performed successfully for RC bridges [18,19], RC
beam [20], RC/masonry composite walls [21], concrete piles
[22] and civil structural components [23].
b. The vibrational characteristic approach: This approach
involves actuators for producing specific signals which prop-
agates through the structure and the modal parameters are
extracted. The altering of modal parameters indicates the
presence of cracks in the structure. The comparison of modal
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Materials Today: Proceedings 78 (2023) 28–35
parameters [24] of structure, sweep sine response [25] or
transfer function [26] with the baseline data enables the
identification of damage.
c. The Lamb wave-based approach: In order to detect dam-
age lamb waves are generated and their reflections are mon-
itored by PZT patches which are either surface bonded to
[14] or embedded in [25] the structure.
2. Smart aggregate
The piezoceramic based PZT patch due to its fragile nature is
susceptible to damage due to moisture. Therefore, the PZT patch
is insulated with a waterproofing coating. Further, the insulated
PZT patch connected to the lead wires is embedded into small con-
crete block. The SA is then stationed at the requisite location in the
structural RC components prior to casting and thus reducing the
risk of damage during the vibration process in casting of concrete.
2.1. Working principle
SA when subjected to stress or strain induces electric charge
and this phenomenon is known as the piezoelectric direct effect;
conversely, SA under the action of electric field produces stress
or strain and the phenomenon is known as piezoelectric converse
effect. Hence, a single SA can operate as both sensor and actuator
simultaneously. The presence of PZT patch in SA creates a reliable,
low cost and posing wide frequency range viable alternative of PZT
to facilitate the multi-functionality of the SA.
2.2. Active sensing system
An active sensing system has been proposed involving a pair of
SA for the SHM of RC structures as illustrated in Fig.1. One of the SA
functions as an actuator to produce sweep sinusodial wave, while
the other SA functions as sensors to receive the sweep sinusoidal
wave. The existence of cracks within the structure acts as stress
reduction and attenuates the energy of the propagated wave. The
severity of cracks/damage can be evaluated by examining the
attenuation in the output sensor signal [27].
3. Methods of localization
Nemanja Marković et al. [28], presented active monitoring
methods involving piezoelectric SA for SHM, damage detection,
and damage localization purpose in reinforced concrete civil engi-
neering structure. The methods are based on the wave propagation
approach combined with the basic piezoelectric effects for SA to
operate as actuators and sensors. These methods detect those dam-
Fig. 1. Active sensing system of smart aggregate [27].
S. Singh, A.K. Sachan and R. Shanker Materials Today: Proceedings 78 (2023) 28–35

vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
age which are not visible to the naked eye i.e. through visual uP2n
u f ¼1 ðEt;f  Eh;f Þ2
inspection and located in inaccessible parts of structures. DI ¼ t P2 n 2 ð1Þ
f ¼1 Eh;f

3.1. Monitoring 1-D reinforced concrete elements f = frequency band.

t = time index;

Pitch–Catch Method: This method involves the generation of Eh;f = Energy at undamaged (healthy) state.
wave or mechanical deformation by applying voltage to the
Et;f = Energy at damaged state.
PZT based SA actuator, which is detected by the PZT-based
The following two types of damage index matrices are
SA sensor causing it to generate voltage. The presence of
formulated:
damage in the path of the propagating wave would cause
change in generated voltage and the damage is detected. This

Sensor-history damage index matrix (SHDIM): It aids in deter-
method is used for crack detection and damages such as fati-
mining the damage evolution at various locations in order to
gue damage, etc. It is popular for application in 1-D and 2-D
detect failure in the structure.
RC elements

Pulse–Echo Method: In this method a single PZT-based SA Mnxm ¼ ½Xi;j nxm ð2Þ
functioning as an actuator and sensor both. The wave generated
th th
from the SA would reflect back by the single PZT-based SA where, Xi,j = DI of the i SA during j test.
(functioning as an actuator) would reflect back and will be i = sensor index.
detected by the PZT-based SA (functioning as a sensor). j = time index.

Time Reversal Method: This method is based on the signal gen- m = no. of tests.
erated from the actuator gets altered while travelling through n = no. of SA.
the medium and is received by the sensor. Then, the time-
reversed sensor signal is returned back to the actuator reversing
Actuator–sensor damage index matrix (ASDIM): It is formulated
the influence of medium. This information aids in detection of for the assessment of damage severity between the sensor-
damage. actuator pair. It is used to extract damage location.

3.2. Monitoring 2-D reinforced concrete Elements Dsxa ¼ ½Xi;j  ð3Þ

Hilbert–Huang transformation: The signal analysis methods
such as Hilbert-Huang Transform, wavelet transform would
aid in detecting damage. The speed of the reflected wave and
travel time would allow to identify the position of the damage.
This method is suitable for detecting surface and below the sur-
face damages.

Time-of-arrival algorithm: It is based on the time taken by the
signal to travel to a point from an actuator.

Time difference-of-arrival algorithm: It is based on the time
difference in the time of flight of the signal.
where,
Xi,j = DI; the ith SA working as a sensor and the jth SA is working
as an actuator.
s = no. of SA functioning as sensors.
a = no. of SA functioning as actuators.
For a 2-D damage index matrix [28,29] the 2-D element (slab,
wall) is divided into horizontal(p) and vertical sections(q), which
provides p  q sub-sections. The SA sensor-actuator pair is placed
in every sub-section for the evaluation of damage status in each
sub-section. The DI for each sub-section is represented by the 2-
D matrix as below:

These methods are beyond the scope of this study therefore, not Di;j ¼ Hi  V j ð4Þ
discussed in detail. where,
Di,j = average DI in the p  q-sub-domain.
4. Wavelet signal decomposition Hi = DI for horizontal sub-section; (i = 1, 2 . . ., p).
Vj = DI for vertical sub-section; (j = 1, 2. . .,q).
The signal of the PZT-based SA is analyzed by the signal pro- Further, for the overall damage in the structure, Do is formu-
cessing technique known as wavelet decomposition. The signal is lated as follows:
segmented into an approximation and detail. Further, in the next X
p X
q
phase the approximation and detail are further divided into two Do ¼ wij Dij ð5Þ
additional approximation and detail and so on to achieve richer i¼1 j¼1
signals. The damage index is based on transmission energy. There-
where, wij = weight coefficient of p  q sub-section area Aij defined
fore, the output signal is decomposed into 2n sets [28].
as:
Aij
5. Damage index wij ¼ Pp Pq ð6Þ
i¼1 j¼1 Aij
Damage index (DI) are formulated to have an idea of the sever-
ity of the damage. Following types of damage have been
5.2. Energy-based DI [30,31]:
formulated:
The energy of SA sensor was calculated as follows:
5.1. Root mean square deviation based DI Z tf
E¼ u2 dt ð7Þ
The most commonly used damage index ‘‘Root mean square
to
deviation” (RMSD) was proposed to compare the difference
between transmission energy vectors of damaged and undam- where,
aged(healthy) state. It is generally used for 1-D elements. The dam- to = initial time.
age index at time j has been formulated as follows [27,28]: tf = finish time.
30
S. Singh, A.K. Sachan and R. Shanker
u = sensor voltage. The DI at time index i was represented as
follows.
jEh  Ed j
DI ¼ ð8Þ
Eh
Eh = Energy at undamaged state.
Ed = Energy at damaged state.
5.3. Transfer function-based DI [32]
Pn
i¼1 jmh ðiÞ  md ðiÞj
DI ¼ Pn
i¼1 mh ðiÞ
mh(i) = magnitude of transfer function at healthy state.
md (i) = magnitude of transfer function at damaged state.
For all the above damage indices if the value of DI approaches to
zero, it indicates healthy state of the structure. But if the DI exceeds
a certain threshold value, it illustrates that the initiation of damage
has occurred in the RC structure. The value of DI approaching to 1,
represents the structure is imminent to failure.
6. Literature review
In the past decades, there has been a surge in the demand for
performing health monitoring of large-scale civil infrastructures
in an attempt to minimize the maintenance costs and enhance
the safety of large-scale RC structures, For large-scale inaccessible
structures the traditional health monitoring techniques such as X-
ray, C-scan, and others have been found to be costly and
ineffective.
Song et al. [27] introduced the concept and the operating prin-
ciple of SA. Further, the multi-functionality of SA involving early
age strength, impact detection and structural health monitoring
was also illustrated. In the health monitoring approach, an active
sensing system based on the coupling of SA was designed for RC
structures. The test for SHM was performed on two concrete bent
caps and a two-story concrete frame. Wavelet packet signal analy-
sis explained above was utilized to analyse the sensor signal of the
embedded PZT patches. The presence of damage/crack attenuates
the amplitude of wave and transmission energy. Thus, the RMSD
based DI given by Eq. (1) was implemented for assessing the dam-
age status. The SHDIM in eq.(2)and ASDIM in Eq. (3) were also used
for determining the location and severity of damage at various
locations respectively. The test results demonstrated the effective-
ness of the proposed damage indices in extracting time-history,
severity and location of the damage for large-scale RC structure.
It was also concluded that proposed damage index was capable
in detecting critical damages earlier than conventional SHM tech-
niques. From this study it can be established that the PZT-based
SA approach is more sensitive than conventional SHM techniques
employing Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) and
microscopes. The sensitivity of this approach enables the anticipa-
tion of the structural damage prior to the structure failure. The SA-
based approach is likely to be adopted for monitoring the struc-
tural performance of large-scale RC structures without the need
for additional heavy equipment.
Laskar et al. [34] performed this study to assess the perfor-
mance of two-story RC frame subjected to monotonic lateral load
until failure is achieved using the SA based approach. The study
also aimed in determining the location and occurrence of plastic
hinges in succession developed during the progressive failure of
the RC frame with the help of SA-based approach. To validate the
results obtained from piezoceramic-based SA approach, the finite
element analysis was performed on a finite element model devel-
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Materials Today: Proceedings 78 (2023) 28–35
oped using OpenSEES computer program and. Further, the results
obtained from finite element analysis were validated by the exper-
imental results acquired from LVDT i.e., load deformation curve.
For the monitoring of the specimen, a push-over test was con-
ducted on the RC frame to progressively fail the concrete structure.
For analysing the sensor signal wavelet packet analysis is utilized.
DI is calculated on the basis of RMSD using Eq.(1) and SHDIM using
Eq.(2). The identification of plastic hinges aided in monitoring the
progressive collapse of the structure. The presence of a plastic
hinge at a location attributed more severe damage. The high value
of DI in SHDIM for a particular sensor marked higher possibilities
of the presence and evolution of plastic hinges. Comparing the
damage index values of different plastic hinges was used to deter-
mine the order of progress of plastic hinges. ASDIM was evaluated
using Eq.(3) to deduce the location of damage and plastic hinges.
The results obtained from the SA-based technique were validated
by the results extracted from the load deformation curve and the
anticipated FEA results for the position and development of plastic
hinges and damage. It was well established that the PZT-based SA
approach is likely to serve as an efficient tool in assessing the struc-
tural performance of large-scale civil RC structures experiencing
either local or premature failure.
The study of Liao et al. [30,31] presented an distributed net-
work of SA under earthquake excitations. The experiment was per-
formed on four identical one-story-two-bay and three identical
one story-two-bay RC frames respectively experiencing shake table
test in succession. The frames were equipped with LVDTs and
accelerometers to measure horizontal displacements and response
acceleration of the walls respectively. The principle for health
monitoring was to determine the damage severity through DI
using Eq.(8) based on the transmission energy calculated by using
Eq.(7). The SHDIM was calculated by using Eq.(2) to evaluate the
status of damage at various locations. For obtaining the dynamic
response of the RC structure, simulation was done by a finite ele-
ment model using SAP2000 for different levels of earthquake
ground motions. XTRACT software was used for obtaining cracking
moment, yielding moment and ultimate strength. The hysteric
model for analysis was modelled in Takeda model. The study con-
cluded that the simulated method proposed is effective and accu-
rate in predicting the maximum and residual displacement of RC
frame structures. The ductility demand effectively represented
the damage state of beam-column member. The damage index
obtained by experimental test were compatible with the ductility
demand.
A similar study was performed by Liao et al. [35] on a one-bay,
two-story RC frame subjected to seismic excitations. The shake
table test was performed on the RC frame specimen to simulate
the seismic excitations. For the assessment of severity of damage,
the energy-based damage index was calculated using Eq.(8). The
ductility demand of the structural components such as beams
and columns were evaluated with the aid of dynamic responses
measured by SAP2000 software and XTRACT software providing
with the data of strength-curvature relationships. Later the mea-
sured displacement ductility demand was compared with the
health monitoring test results and were found to be in good agree-
ment with each other. It was concluded that this approach is effec-
tive for large scale-infrastructures. Also, it was advised to position
the sensors at those locations which are prone to damage and are
inaccessible i.e., cannot be visually inspected for in-situ large-scale
civil infrastructures.
Concrete pile is a major component of RC structure which trans-
fers the superstructure load to the soil. RC piles are beneficial in
case of low bearing capacities of soil and also limits the soil settle-
ment. Song et al. [36] tested 2 concrete piles, each with a sensor-
actuator pair. One of the specimens was undamaged and the other
was artificially damaged. The sweep sine wave ranging from 200Hz
S. Singh, A.K. Sachan and R. Shanker
to 10KHz was sent by the actuator and was received by the sensor.
The drop in the transmission energy for the damaged specimen
was observed from the power spectrum density plot. An impact
test by generating an impact by an impact hammer on the speci-
mens was also formed. The excitation source generated by the
impact and the output sensor-SA signal, the transfer function is
compared and is observed that the resonance peaks have attenu-
ated due to the presence of damage. It was concluded that this
approach is suitable for monitoring of new piles. A similar type
of study was done by Feng et al. [37] in which 5 RC pile specimens
in which the first specimen was undamaged and the rest four had
man-made cracks, maximum damage in the last specimen. A
sensor-actuator was placed at pre-determined locations in every
pile. Based on the active sensing approach implemented it was
observed that the output signal strength of the undamaged speci-
men was the highest and the signal strength attenuated as the
damage increased in the specimen. i.e., the minimum signal
strength was in the last specimen. It was concluded that the pro-
posed approach was successfully implemented but needs more
research on existing piles.
Shear wall is designed to resist lateral forces acting on RC struc-
tures. Any sort of failure of shear wall would result in severe dam-
age or progressive collapse of the structure. Thus, it is important to
monitor the health status of shear wall. Yan et al. [29] performed a
study to verify the effectiveness of SA-based approach in monitor-
ing the health of a concrete shear wall structure under seismic
loading. For the detection of cracks and damage active sensing sys-
tem was implemented. The wavelet packet analysis was performed
for developing the damage index.
The 2-D DI explained in Eqs. (4)–(6) was adopted. For damage
detection, in every section a sensor-actuator in form of SA was
positioned at the maximum possible distance between them. For
experimental purposes, the front area of shear wall test specimen
was rived into 3  3 sub-sections (3 horizontal sections and 3 ver-
tical sections). Ten SA were attached with the rebar cage at pre-
determined positions prior to the casting of the test specimen.
Two hydraulic actuators A and B were employed to simulate verti-
cal and horizontal loads respectively on the shear wall test speci-
men as shown in Fig. 2. A dSPACE system generated sweep sine
wave ranging from 100 Hz to 10 kHz. The loading procedure was
applied as shown in Fig.3 in two phases: Force controlled (phase
I) and Displacement controlled (phase II). In phase I, the force
was controlled with loading grades as 0.5Fx, 0.75Fx and Fx (Fx being
the yield load), until the yielding of longitudinal reinforcements
placed in the boundary columns yielded. Later, in phase II, dis-
Fig. 2. Location of smart aggregates [29].
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Materials Today: Proceedings 78 (2023) 28–35
Fig. 3. Experimental setup [29].
placement was controlled with loading grades as Dd, 2Dd and
4Dd (Dd being the yield displacement) for further damage to the
specimen. After the test was performed, the overall damage of
the structure (DO) from Eq. (5) was calculated as 45.3 %. The calcu-
lated damage index of each sub-section and visual inspection indi-
cated the most severe damage occurring in the bottom of the shear
wall analogous to the flexural failure of the RC shear wall. The dras-
tic increase in the DI during the second transition of load, there
was a simultaneous increase in damage severity which indicated
the yielding of concrete. Hence, the second load level can be con-
sidered as prior warning point for the anticipation of failure of
the structure. This study indicated this approach to be effective
in assessing damage severity and warning point for the structure.
In the study of Gu et al. [32] SA was examined for its feasibility
to monitor the health of the large-scale structure and damage
detection when the structure is subjected to seismic excitation.
The study was performed to determine the dynamic seismic
response, white noise response and damage monitoring. The dam-
age index developed in this study is based on the comparison of
transfer function with the results obtained at healthy state. The
proposed Sensor History damage index matrix compared the trans-
fer function obtained in damaged state with the data obtained in
healthy state. For the estimation of severity of damage, DI based
on transfer function explained in eq.(9) was used. To predict the
failure of the structure, the damage development process is
observed by SHDIM.
The test specimens for the experiment were two circular RC col-
umns implanted with SA at predetermined locations subjected to
recorded seismic excitation. The two columns were excited by a
prior recorded seismic excitation at various levels of earthquake
acceleration. For the seismic response detection, the mass rig for
column I was distributed symmetrically in order to generate min-
imum amount of torsion whereas for column II mass rig was placed
asymmetrically to impose torsion. The results demonstrated that
for column I bending moment was the major cause for damage
and for column II bending moment along with torsion was the
major cause of damage.
The presence of internal cracks dampened the propagation of
the stress wave, and the damping is relative to the severity of
the damage. In this test, a sinusoidal sweep signal starting from
100 Hz to 8 kHz was used as the excitation source for the SA-
actuator. Based on the experimental results and SA-based
approach, it was observed that column I started yielding after the
seismic excitation at 80 % acceleration level and failed at an accel-
eration level of 120 %. For column II, the experimental results indi-
cated yielding at an acceleration level of 120 % and failure level at
160 %. The damage index for column II increased drastically at an
S. Singh, A.K. Sachan and R. Shanker
acceleration level of 100 %, which indicated a severe damage status
whereas the yielding and failure was at an acceleration level of
120 % and 160 % respectively. The proposed PZT-based SA approach
have the potential to be used for seismic excitation detection and
SHM of large infrastructures. The study illustrated the sensitivity
and effectiveness of SA in detecting dynamic seismic response at
various locations of the RC structural component and in large-
scale RC structures under earthquake loading.
In the study of Moslehy et al. [33] performed health assessment
of a RC column subjected to reversed cyclic loading by adopting the
vibration-characteristic approach. The test specimens for the
experiment were two RC columns A & B with eight SA and one
3-D SA fixed at predetermined locations within the rebar cage were
casted. The torsion/moment ratio of the loading protocol was 0.2
for column A and 0.6 for column B. The columns were allowed to
fail gradually under reverse cyclic loading. The loading protocols
for column A & B are as shown in the Fig. 4 and Fig. 5. The wave
response is detected by the proposed SA based active sensing sys-
tem as explained earlier. The severity of damage is correlated with
the drop in transmission energy represented by damage index
matrix; SHDIM given by eq.(2). For column A, the damage status
is evaluated at each positive, negative loading peak and zero load-
ing points whereas for column B the damage status is evaluated at
each positive and negative loading peak only.
(a) Health monitoring results of column A
From Fig. 4 it was inferred that the yielding of column began as
the ductility level was 1. At ductility level of 0.9, there was a signif-
icant increase in DI values. The results exhibits that the proposed
SA approach provided prior damage status warning point. Further-
more, on comparing the DI values of the sensor-actuator pairs it
was indicated that the plastic hinge region at the bottom of the col-
umn had severe damage.
(b) Health monitoring results of column B
From the experimental result it was observed that there was a
surge in the DI values after the ductility level hits 1. This occurred
because the fissures in the RC column evolved at an increasing rate
once the steel yielded.
Later Liao et al. [38] also conducted a research on the effective-
ness of PZT-based SA under seismic excitations. In this study-two
tests were performed on RC columns:
Fig. 4. Loading protocol for column A [33].
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Materials Today: Proceedings 78 (2023) 28–35
Fig. 5. Loading Protocol for column B [33].
1. Test of structural health monitoring was performed on RC col-
umns with pre-embedded PZT-based SA subjected to seismic
excitation using shake table.
2. In-situ health monitoring test was performed on RC pier of Niu-
Dou Bridge employed with post-embedded PZT-based SA sub-
jected to reverse cyclic loading.
After an earthquake, it is essential to quickly assess the health of
RC structures to provide prior warning of structural damage. For
real-time monitoring and evaluating damage status of large-scale
infrastructure aftermath an earthquake is important for decision
makers regarding the condition of the structure. The study of Kong
et al. [39] was initiated to verify the efficiency of SA for real-time
monitoring of large-scale structures under pseudo-dynamic load-
ing. The test specimen for the experiment was a full-scale RC circu-
lar bridge column which was assumed to be a pier of a curved
bridge. The test specimen was fabricated with ten SA were embed-
ded at predetermined locations. Further, the column was subjected
to a 40 s simulated earthquake shown in Fig. 6 with an increment
in magnitude of acceleration in every 10 s. The monitoring of the
column was performed periodically for duration of approximately
40 hr. The active sensing system was implemented which detected
the cyclic opening and closing of cracks under pseudo-dynamic
loading. In , y and z-directions, the force–displacement and
moment–curvature relationships were observed. It was concluded
that largest displacement occurred in x-direction at the top of the
column. The displacement history of x-direction is shown in the
Fig. 7. The RMSD based DI given by Eq. (1) was utilized for the
detection of crack development and severity. The increasing trend
of damage indices represented the increase in severity of damage.
The value of damage index approaching to 1, exhibits RC column
reaching its ultimate capacity.
The peaks and valleys in the damage indices plot and displace-
ment history curve depicted the occurrence of cyclic opening and
closing of cracks at the bottom of the column with the increase
and decrease in the load cycle respectively. The proposed approach
was effective in real-time monitoring of RC bridge column under
pseudo-dynamic loading. The displacement history and damage
indices curves correlated well with each other shown in Fig. 8
and also with test records.
Recent years have witnessed the hike in terrorist activities and
thus the blast/explosion incidents have surged worldwide. The
exposure of RC structures to the explosive forces causes adequate
destruction of the structure and may even lead to collapse of the
structure. Xu et al. [40] in its study proposed a SA-based approach
for damage detection in RC column subjected to a series of five
S. Singh, A.K. Sachan and R. Shanker
Fig. 6. Loading protocol: acceleration record [39].
Fig. 7. Displacement history in x-direction of the column [39].
blasts. In the series of blasts, as the blasts run was performed the
distance of the blast charge from the structure decreased. The test
specimen RC column was casted with four SA positioned at prede-
termined locations. In addition, four strain gauges and an
accelerometer was surface bonded to measure strain and accelera-
tion responses. The SA-based approach demonstrated that the
Fig. 8. Overlap plots of damage indices and displacement history curves of SA 3 [39].
34
Materials Today: Proceedings 78 (2023) 28–35
highest magnitude of the signal at healthy state was gradually
decreased and minimized to zero at the last blast indicating severe
damage causing inhibition of propagation of wave through the
structure. The same trend was observed from the damage index
matrix. The results of strain and acceleration responses of the spec-
imen were in good agreement with the results of SA-based
approach i.e., the maximum strain and acceleration occurred dur-
ing the last blast. It was observed that the surface damage appear-
ing severe in blast-4 did not cause any significant changes in the
damage index. As the stress waves of the active sensing SA-based
approach propagates within the specimen providing information
regarding internal cracks and damages. In the blast-5 the destruc-
tion was severe which was evident from all the results.
7. Conclusion
The research work performed by adopting PZT-based SA
approach for SHM of RC components till date has been summarized
here. In addition to previous researches under static loading, this
approach has been successfully adopted for SHM under reversed-
cyclic loading, seismic excitations, pseudo-dynamic loading, blast
loading performed on RC bridge column on both lab specimens
and in-situ specimens for real-time monitoring. The proposed
approach was effective for monitoring of shear wall under seismic
S. Singh, A.K. Sachan and R. Shanker
excitations. A distributed network of SA was proposed for the mon-
itoring of RC frame under seismic excitation was succesfully veri-
fied. Thsi approach was verified for RC piles and was successfully
implemented but the real-time monitoring of RC piles during the
construction and its serviceable life still needs to be studied. Also,
further research is possible on the efficiency of this approach for
existing RC piles. It can be concluded that the PZT-based SA
approach can be successfully applied in large-scale columns but
requires more research work in adopting this approach for in-
situ RC frames and existing frames.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Sriparna Singh: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing –
original draft. A.K. Sachan: Supervision, Validation. Rama Shan-
ker: Supervision, Validation
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
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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