Structural Health Monitoring to Determine Long-Term Behavior of AFRP Composite Bars in Prestressed Concrete Panels for Field Deployment

Corrosion-induced deterioration of steel rebar in concrete structures often demands costly repair and maintenance, where the steel rebar swells and increases the tensile load in concrete resulting in cracks, spallings, and openings that increase its susceptibility to corrosion. Previous research by the principal investigator has shown the validity, deformability and suitability of aramid fiber reinforced polymer (AFRP) bars used in prestressed, precast concrete deck panels (PCPs). However, research is still needed to monitor and assess the long-term behavior of AFRP bars due to creep, shrinkage, and prestress losses when exposed to thermal and sustained loads similar to "in-situ" bridge conditions. The research will be divided into two phases: (1) a laboratory-scale investigation for accelerated degradation and time-dependent behavior and (2) a full-scale investigation for long-term performance evaluation under natural environmental conditions. Phase I will examine effects of freeze-thaw, creep, and shrinkage effects whereas Phase II will focus on constructing two full-scale, PCPs: One with conventional prestressing steel and the other prestressed with AFRP bars that will be continuously monitored outdoors. For both phases instrumentation (internal and external measures) will be deployed for measuring strain response of the specimens. Where appropriate, the investigators will deploy state-of-the-art digital imaging correlation (DIC), a non-contact optical based deformation measurement technique, for monitoring specimen behavior. This study will also serve as a testbed for deploying DIC for performance monitoring of concrete structure and finite element analysis (FEA) to numerically compare system performance to conventional designs.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $187000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  DTRT12-G-UTC03

  MAUTC-2012-01

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center

  Pennsylvania State University
  201 Transportation Research Building
  University Park, PA  United States  16802-4710
• Performing Organizations:

  Morgan State University

  School of Engineering
  Cold Spring Lane and Hillen Road
  Baltimore, MD  United States  21239
• Principal Investigators:

  Head, Monique

• Start Date: 20120101
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20141231
• Source Data: RiP Project 32324

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aramid fibers; Corrosion; Creep; Deterioration; Prestressed concrete; Reinforcing bars; Shrinkage; Structural health monitoring; Tension
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Design; Highways; I15: Environment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01500880
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: DTRT12-G-UTC03, MAUTC-2012-01
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Dec 6 2013 1:00AM