Fiber optic smart monitoring of concrete beam retrofitted by composite patches

In order to extend the lifetime of buildings and civil infrastructure, patch type fibrous composite retrofitting materials are widely used. Retrofitted concrete columns and beams gain stiffness and strength, but lose toughness and show brittle failure. Usually, the cracks in concrete structures are visible to the naked eye and the status of the structure in the life cycle is estimated through visual inspections. After retrofitting of the structure, crack visibility is blocked by retrofitted composite materials. Therefore, structural monitoring after retrofitting is indispensable and self diagnosis method with optical fiber sensors is very useful. In this paper, we try to detect the peel out effect and find the strain difference between the main structure and retrofitting patch material when they separate from each other. In the experiment, two fiber optic Bragg grating sensors are applied to the main concrete structure and the patching material separately at the same position. The sensors show coincident behaviors at the initial loading, but different behaviors after a certain load. The test results show the possibility of optical fiber sensor monitoring of beam structures retrofitted by the composite patches.