Diphasic conductive concrete with nano materials and carbon fiber for self-sensing of strain

Abstract

In this work, both carbon fiber and nano carbon black were used as conductive phases to produce the diphasic electric conductive concrete. Electric conductive concrete beams subjected to flexural load were investigated to study the relationship between the strain of geometrical neutral axis and the fractional change in resistance of conductive concrete, and the results show that this relationship can be well fitted by the exponential decay first order curve before cracking. The slope of the fitted curve can reflect the sensitivity of the conductive concrete. This self-sensing of strain of conductive concrete can be applied as a new way for assessing the strain and stress state of the bending members.