Structural Health Monitoring Using Piezoceramic Material sensors

Chapter 1

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 GENERAL
Civil infrastructures need timely inspection for the assessment of their integrity
and stability for the future benefit of the human society, life safety and cost effectiveness. Their
safe and economical performance stands a high benefit for the society, because it stabilizes
financial management and safety. In general, their performance contains a large number of
uncertainties because they are often subjected to traumatic natural disasters and intensive usage.
To overcome these challenges, many organizations and independent research bodies comes up
with new techniques for full scale performance assessment and behavioral interpretation of
structures, which is termed as the structural health monitoring (SHM). Health monitoring is
typically used to crack and evaluate the performance, symptoms of operational incidents and
anomalies due to deterioration or damage during operation and after extreme events. For any
kind of structures, including civil, aerospace, and mechanical engineering infrastructure, SHM is
the process of detecting damage, while the structure is in service. In contrast to SHM, the non-
destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques, such as dye penetrant inspection, magnetic inspection,
eddy-current inspection, radiography and ultrasonic inspection are performed while the system
of interest in service.
The ultimate achievement of SHM can be categorized into two aspects; one is
“real-time”, which enables the SHM system to obtain immediate response of the structure
and hence measures the health of structure. The other feature is “on-line”, which provide us
alerting system by audible sound and online imaging. Modern SHM integrates sensing
(smart materials), communication and computing systems combined with NDT&E, such as
geometric surveys and vibration measurements. The academic research community is
greatly attracted towards vibrational response of structures using smart materials or
conventional sensors to identify the modal characteristics, which are sensitive to structural
damages. These modal parameters reflect the structure’s mass, stiffness and damping
properties along with imposed boundary conditions. Changes in modal properties indicate a
change in the structure caused by deterioration or defects occurring in the structure, thus
enabling damage quantification. A mature SHM system has the potential to be fully
integrated into the operational hardware of a structure. If a defect is sensed, the system
should have the intelligence to determine the best course of action. With the development of
structural health monitoring technology, many intelligent materials are applied to structural

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health monitoring in civil engineering. In the past decades, the application of PZT has are
used wide interest, and many researchers have tried to make use of PZT in the civil
engineering structural health monitoring and put forward many theoretical analysis
methods. Damage in civil, mechanical and aerospace structures may come from fatigues or
excessive external loads such as strong winds, earthquakes, explosions and vehicle impacts.
Higher operational loads, complexity of design and longer life time periods imposed to civil
structure make it increasingly important to monitor the health of these structures. Early
detection of the damage or structural degradation prior to local failure can prevent
catastrophic collapse of those structures. The serviceability, safety and sustainability of the
structure have received much attention by administrative authorities. The cost of repair is
obviously less than that required to reconstruct the whole structure. Visual inspection
technique has a limited capability to detect damage, especially when damage lies inside the
structure and is not visible. The use of the dynamic system parameters such as natural
frequencies, damping ratio and mode shapes to detect damage qualitatively and
quantitatively has been studied intensively. The reason of this popularity is the ease of
measuring modal parameters on real structures. The natural frequencies and the mode
shapes are directly related to the stiffness of the structure. The change in natural frequencies
and damping ratios can easily indicate the presence of damage or faults and its severity.

This involves sensors, data acquisition and signal processing tools. Since
concrete is a brittle material, which is weak in tension, cracking is the indication of damage
in the material which influence from tensile stress in the material. Stress induced damage in
concrete could result from load application or from internal sources such as shrinkage.
Damage initiation takes place in the form of distributed micro cracks, which eventually
localize to form cracks. Often the damage, particularly in the incipient stages is not directly
visible and by the time signs of distress appear on the surface of the structure significant
damage would have accrued in the structure and there may be significant degradation of the
capacity of the structure. Early detection of damage, before visible signs appear on the
surface of the structure is essential to initiate early intervention, which can effectively
increase the service life of structures. Methods to detect incipient damage in the form of
micro cracks are required to provide effective methods of monitoring structural health and
service life performance of structures. Structures are assemblies of load carrying members
capable of safely transferring the loads to the foundations. To serve their designated
purpose, the structures must satisfy strength and serviceability criteria throughout their

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stipulated design life. However, after a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, the strength
as well as the serviceability of the structure becomes questionable due to the possibility of
damage. Over the last two decades, many automated SHM techniques have been reported in
the literature. Global static response techniques, such as the static displacement
measurement technique or the static strain measurement technique aim for structural system
identification from the static response of structures. The conventional SHM approaches rely
on the measured static stress or strain, or displacement, or low-frequency vibration data for
damage identification. They employ conventional sensors, which can only extract details
such as load or strain histories. However, the recent advent of smart materials, such as
piezoelectric materials, shape-memory alloys and optical fibres has added a new dimension
to SHM. In particular, the electro- mechanical impedance (EMI) technique, which uses
smart piezoelectric ceramic lead–zirconate–titanate (PZT) patch, has emerged as a powerful
technique for SHM.

In the modern world, health monitoring of engineering structures are gaining

potential for mitigation of sudden failures. In the last two decades, the development of a
real-time, in- service and smart material-based SHM method has attracted the interest of a
large number of academic, industrial, and laboratory researchers in the world. Structural
health monitoring (SHM) of homogeneous materials is simpler as compared to non-
homogeneous materials like concrete. However, most of the civil engineering constructions
are based on concrete which is non-homogeneous. Moreover, monitoring of concrete
structures has many potential issues ranging from bonding of monitoring sensors/ systems
on concrete to sensing abilities of such systems.
The non-destructive evaluation of concrete structures aims to evaluate two
parameters. i.e. (i) concrete strength determination, and (ii) concrete damage detection.
Special importance is attached to strength determination for concrete because it’s elastic
behavior and to some extent service behavior can be easily predicted from strength
characteristics. Although direct strength tests, which are destructive in nature, are excellent
for quality control during construction, their main shortcoming is that the tested specimen
may not truly represent the concrete in the actual structure.

The destructive tests reflect more the quality of the supplied materials rather
than that of the constructed structure. Delays in obtaining results, lack of reproducibility and
high costs of tests are some other drawbacks. The NDE methods, on the other hand, aim to

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measure the strength of concrete in the actual structures. However, these cannot be expected
to yield absolute values of strength since they measure some property of concrete from
which an estimation of its strength, durability and elastic parameters can be obtained. In the
recent past, PZT based EMI models were attempted for detection of external loadings on
and damages in the structures to be monitored. The applications of PZT sensor are too
abundant to list; however, they are mainly used in the fields of ultrasonic, noise and
vibration control, acoustic emissions etc. Structural health monitoring (SHM) is currently
attracting huge research funding across the world. Experts have identified SHM as one of
the top ten technologies having the potential of driving the global economy. SHM,
especially for large civil structures, needs a mega network of sensors distributed throughout
the structure.

1.2 Types of structural failures:-

Following are the various types of failures:-

A) Structural failures:-

1. Incorrect design:-
It is caused by manufacturing errors, including improper selection of materials, incorrect sizing,
improper heat treating, failing to adhere to the design, or shoddy workmanship. This type of
failure can occur at any time and is usually unpredictable.

2. Faulty design:-
Faults in building design place a heavy burden on the building for rest of its life and there is no
compensation for it. It includes:
1. The implication of building material's physical properties towards maintenance.
2. The impact of poor ventilation design.

3. Overloading:-
When a structure is overloaded to the extent not covered in safety factors, concrete may be
damaged or fail. Overloading may be in shear, flexure, or tension, or may be a result of fatigue or
cyclic loading.

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4. Incorrect assessment of bearing capacity:-

Construction imperfection in design of assessment of bearing capacity can be extremely
expensive to settle.

5. Foundation settlement:-
Vegetation, inadequate drainage, plumbing leakage, and evaporation, may cause soil
variation. The top soil layers provide the bearing capacity to hold the structure, and ensure
stability of the foundation. If the bearing soil is inadequately compacted preceding construction,
the foundation may be affected by settlement.

B) Non-structural failures:-

1. Moisture changes:-
The moisture change in building materials simply define as materials capable of absorbing
water expands and contract on drying. Nearly, all building materials (e.g. Concrete, mortar, burnt
clay brick, timber, plywood etc.) are porous in their structure in the form of inter-molecular space.

2. Thermal movement:-
Extensive damage that can be caused to brick structures due to thermal expansion of long
brick walls lacking expansion joints.

3. Elastic deformation:-
The deformation stays even after removal of the applied forces, while the temporary
deformation is recoverable as it disappears after the removal of applied forces called as Elastic
deformation. In long, slender structural elements such as columns or truss bars an increase of
compressive force F leads to structural failure due to buckling.

1.3 Various NDT methods

a) Surface hardness methods:

1. Rebound Hammer test
2. Penetration test
b) Dynamic or Vibration methods:
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1. Ultrasonic pulse velocity

2. Acoustic emission
3. Impact eco
c) Magnetic method
1. Reinforcement detectors
d) Electrical methods
1. Dielectric measurement
2. Electrical resistivity
3. Half- call potential
e) Electromagnetic methods
1. Radar
F) Radioactive
1. X-radiography
2. Gamma radiography
3. Infrared thermography

1.4 Structural Health Monitoring

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a process of assessing the level of damage of the
various parts in the structure during its life period. SHM is the basic principle of non-destructive
evaluation (NDE) procedures. SHM is defined as the measurement of operating and the loading
environment and the critical responses of a structure to track and evaluate the symptoms of
operational incidents, deterioration or damage indicators that may affect operation serviceability
or the reliability. SHM denotes a reliable system with ability to detect and interpret adverse
changes in the structure due to damage and normal operation.

Purpose of structural health monitoring

1. To find location & severity of damage in concrete structure.

2. To know the life of structure.

3. To know behaviour of structure after earthquake.

4. To know serviceability of structure.

5. To do preventive measures to save structure from damage.

6. To increase life of structure.

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1.4.1 What is PZT?

1. PZT ( Piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate ) is actuator-driven system.

2. It is an individual piezoelectric transducer which serves both as sensor & actuator when
PZT patch is attached to or embedded inside the structure.

3. When PZT is stressed it produces electric charge. Conversely when an electric field is
applied the PZT produces mechanical strain.

4. In EMI technique PZT patch is bonded to the host structure.

5. The change in the electrical admittance of the PZT patch is monitored & compared to a
baseline electrical impedance measurement.

1.4.2 Principal of PZT

Piezoeletricity, as is piezoresistivity is an electrical effects caused by a change in the strain
of a material. In the cause of piezoelectricity, when a piezoelectric material is stressed a charge is
induced across the material faces in response to the magnitude of strain.

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Fig. No. 1. Principle of Piezoelectricity.

1.4.3 SHM by Electromechnical Impedance (EMI) Technique

In the EMI technique, a Piezo-electric ceramic (PZT) sensor patch is bonded/ embedded in
the structure (whose health is to be monitored) using high strength epoxy adhesive. The
conductance signature of the patch is acquired over a high frequency range (30-400 kHz). This
signature forms the benchmark for assessing the structural health. At any future point of time,
when it is desired to assess the health of the structure, the signature is acquired again and
compared with the benchmark signature. The signature of the bonded PZT patch is usually
acquired by means of commercially available impedance analysers. The impedance analyses
imposes an alternating voltage signal of 1 volt R.M.S. (root mean square) to the bonded /
embedded PZT transducer over the user specified preset frequency range. The magnitude and the
phase of the steady state current are directly recorded in form of the conductance and the
susceptance of signatures in the frequency domain, thereby eliminating the requirements of
domain transforms.

1.4.4 The combination mode between the piezoelectric ceramic and the main structure
At present, piezoelectric ceramics as the main sensor of the piezoelectric structure of
health monitoring and damage diagnosis technology in the piezoelectric structures, the
combination mode between the piezoelectric ceramic and the main structure has two main forms,
that is, paste and embedded. In practice, choosing which combination of methods mainly depends
on the main structure of the material characteristics and the use of damage diagnosis methods.

1) Paste: Paste-type bonding method is to paste the piezoelectric ceramic sheet directly on the
surface of the structure. First, the structure of the paste position should be polished smooth. Next,
wipe structure paste position and piezoelectric ceramic sensor and structure contact surface dust,

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dirt with acetone. And then use the epoxy adhesive to paste the sensor in the structural surface.
Paste to ensure that the sensor and colloid contact even and full, so that the force is with
uniformity of the sensor and to avoid charge leakage. The advantages of the bonding method are
easy to operate and the force of the piezoelectric ceramic sheet is relatively simple. However, the
shortcomings of the combination are also more obvious. First of all, because of the piezoelectric
material on the temperature and humidity are more sensitive to exposure to the natural
environment of piezoelectric ceramics affected by changes in ambient temperature, humidity. It
may give monitoring results with while civil engineering structures have a long service life, and
structures are subject to external factors such as climate change, natural disasters, and human
activities during service. Role, these factors will also be affixed to the knot. The surface of the
piezoelectric ceramic sheet is damaged.

2) Embedded: Embedded in the way of the piezoelectric ceramic being embedded in the monitored
structure. The combination is mainly applied to concrete structures.

Fig. No. 2. Schematic of smart aggregate composition

Its advantage is that it can weaken the influence of external environment such as temperature and
humidity on the piezoelectric ceramic. And the structure of the main body can protect the
piezoelectric ceramic, which can prolong the service life of the piezoelectric slice greatly, to
ensure long-term effectiveness of the health monitoring process. These piezoelectric ceramic
pieces wrapped with mortar blocks or fine stone concrete blocks called as "smart aggregate."
Figure 2 shows the "smart aggregate" constitute a schematic diagram. The piezoelectric ceramics
used in the preparation of "Aggregate" is mainly in the form of thickness extensional vibration
mode.

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1.4.5 Piezoelectric Materials and Applications

Piezoelectricity is a phenomenon in which mechanical energy is converted into

electrical energy and vice versa. By definition, a material possessing piezoelectricity will generate
an electrical charge when a mechanical pressure is applied to it. Likewise, the material will
experience a geometric change when an electrical charge is applied to it.

The advantages and disadvantages of each type of the material:

(1) Ceramics are less expensive and more easily fabricated than polymers. They have relatively
high dielectric constants and good electromechanical coupling. Since they are stiff and brittle,
monolithic ceramics cannot be coated onto curved surfaces.
(2) Piezoelectric polymers are very flexible but have limitations of low electromechanical
coupling and low dielectric constant, and high cost of fabrication.
(3) Piezoelectric ceramic composites have shown superior properties when compared to single
phase materials. They have high coupling, low impedance, few spurious modes, and an
intermediate dielectric constant.
The reciprocal energy transforming characteristics of piezoelectricity enables
piezoelectric materials to function as sensors. When they are used as sensors, the input mechanical
signal is transformed into electrical signal that can be evaluated through electrical equipments.
When they are applied as actuators, strains are produced to control the substrate behavior given an
applied voltage. Finally, when they are used as transducers, the high frequency electrical input
signal is transformed into mechanical wave. If the frequency of an electrical input is narrow band,
the frequency band of the output mechanical wave remains narrow. The unique behavior of
piezoelectric material makes it as a transducer to excite wave on the bonded substrate or as a
sensor to detect the mechanical wave propagating in the substrate.
Experimentally performed the coupled electrical-mechanical (E/M) analysis of adaptive systems
driven by a surface attached piezoelectric wafer, showing that the E/M admittance response
accurately reflects the system dynamic response. Attempted theoretical modeling on the
piezoelectric sensor dynamics for various boundary conditions and its interaction with the host
structure, indicating that E/M admittance or impedance frequency spectra can properly capture the
changes in local dynamics due to incipient structural damage. As a result of the availability of
piezoelectric materials with strong electromechanical coupling effect, new sensors and actuators
involving piezoelectric elements have found wide applications and are in greater demand.
Examples include piezoelectric ultrasonic motors, piezoelectric transducers for structural health
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monitoring, and vibration control or noise suppression using piezoelectric layer. Subsequently, the
structural coupling effects between the piezoelectric material and the host material become a topic
of practical importance. Piezoelectric materials, as an alternative to conventional materials in
structural repair, open up new opportunities for improved repair techniques to overcome some of
the limitations of conventional repair methods. Piezoelectric materials allow performing active
repairs, since their strength and their interaction with the repaired structure can be adjusted to
compensate for environmental changes. Piezoelectric patches are also much lighter than
conventional materials and create less concentrated stress on the damaged structure. In addition,
there is significant work on so-called “smart patches” for structural health monitoring and
structural repair. Smart patches have multiple functions, which include self-rehabilitation, self
structural health monitoring, and self-vibration damping.

1.4.6 SMART MATERIALS

The idea of smart structures has been adopted from nature, where all living organisms
possess a system of distributed sensory neurons running all over the body, enabling the brain to
monitor the condition of the various body parts. Smart structures have these essential components
namely “sensors”, “actuators”, and “control mechanism”. In addition, “timely response” is the
fourth term. The combination of above terms enables us to formulate “smart system’ which can be
used at both macroscopic (structure) and microscopic (material) level. Smart materials possess
adaptive capabilities to external stimuli, such as loads or environment, with inherent intelligence.
Smart materials such as piezoceramic patches, sharp memory alloys, fibre-optic sensor, electro-
rheological fluids and electro-magnetic fluids facilitate us to build stimulus-response system with
much higher resolution than any conventional NDE techniques. In the recent past, Lead Zrconate
Titanate Piezo ceramic (PZT) materials have emerged as front runner materials for SHM. PZT
patches utilize the well-known piezoelectric effect discovered by Pierre Curie and his brother in
1880. The basic mechanism can be explained as follow: Structural Health Monitoring by using
Piezoelectric Patches Piezoelectric effect occurs by the displacement of ions, causing the electric
polarization of the crystal’s structural units. When an electrical field is applied, the ions are
displaced by electrostatic forces, resulting in the mechanical deformation of the whole crystal.
Because PZTs are ceramics, they can be produced in any shape or size, to suit the particular
application. The piezoelectric effect provides the ability to use these materials as both sensors and
actuators. As a sensor, these materials can also be used for damage detection in structures in
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which they are embedded or surface bonded. Piezo-ceramics can also be used as actuators because
they undergo strain or displacement when an electric voltage is applied across their poling axis.

1.5 Problem Statement:-

In the past decades, a significant amount of effort has been directed toward the
development of structural health monitoring and non-destructive assessment methods to
maintain the structures more efficiently. A new sensitivity-based damage detection method is
proposed to identify and estimate the location and severity of structural damage. Piezoelectric
materials have so far proven their efficacy for structural health monitoring (SHM) individually.
The experiments have been carried out in the laboratory environment to measure the voltage
and the power generated by PZT patches in surface bonded on beams, columns of concrete
structure but no more study is done on wooden frame so it is need to implement this technique
on wooden frame.

1.6 Aim and objectives:-

Aim:-
Aim of this project is to develop a low-cost and high-accuracy SHM technique for
damage detection in Frame.

Objectives:-
1. Study of Non-Destructive approach based experimental method to find damage of wooden
structure using Piezoelectric ceramic (PZT) Material.
2. Study performance of frame under various frequencies using smart PZT patches.

1.7 SCOPE OF WORK:-

Based up on the objective mentioned above, following scope of work is decided for present
investigation.
 Proposed method is experimental numerical method of analysis developed on the
basis of NDT approach of analysis.
 Laboratory work is based up on studying the frequency variation before and after
damaging slab model as well as validating the proposed methodology experimentally
and numerically.
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1.8 APPLICATIONS:-

 This technique is immune from mechanical, electrical, electromechanically

noised due to high frequency range functionality. Due to this reason its
sensitivity is high.
 There is no bound of time in application of this technique. Technique can be
applied any time in service life of structure. However, it assesses the health after
installation time. It cannot extract earlier history of structure.
 It uses present information as benchmark to predict health in future.

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Chapter - 2
LITERATURE SURVEY

Introduction:-

There are various approaches for addressing the problem of health monitoring and
damage detection in structures. The basic principle utilized is that any flaw / damage changes
some characteristic and hence the response of the structure. Researchers have proposed several
techniques based on different kinds of structural characteristics or responses are as follows:

Naveet Kaur and Suresh Bhalla, Investigated the effect of the adhesive bond and the related
parameters on the energy harvesting capability of thin PZT patches operating in surface bonded /
embedded configurations bonded onto structures. Towards this end, a numerical model is
generated for a real-life sized simply supported RC beam instrumented with (a) surface bonded
piezo sensor (SBPS), and (b) embedded PZT patch. This paper has presented a numerical
approach to perform a parametric study to investigate the effect of various parameters, including
PZT patch’s geometric parameters, the adhesive layer’s thickness and the stiffness on the power
generated by it.

Gyuhae Park, Hoon Sohn, Charles R. Farrar and Daniel J. Inman, In this paper we
summarize the hardware and software issues of impedance-based structural health monitoring
based on piezoelectric materials. The basic concept of the method is to use high-frequency
structural excitations to monitor the local area of a structure for changes in structural impedance
that would indicate imminent damage. A brief overview of research work on experimental and
theoretical studies on various structures is considered and several research papers on these topics
are cited. This paper concludes with a discussion of future research areas and path forward.

Wen Hui Duan, Quan Wang, and Ser Tong Quek, The paper reviews the recent applications of
piezoelectric materials in structural health monitoring and repair conducted by the authors. First,
commonly used piezoelectric materials in structural health monitoring and structure repair are
introduced. The analysis of plain piezoelectric sensors and actuators and interdigital transducer
and their applications in structures for damage detection are reviewed in detail. Second, an
overview is presented on the recent advances in the applications of piezoelectric materials in
structural repair. In addition, the basic principle and the current development of the technique are
examined.

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Peter C. Chang, Alison Flatau and S. C. Liu, Increased awareness of the economic and social
effects of aging, deterioration and extreme events on civil infrastructure has been accompanied by
recognition of the need for advanced structural health monitoring and damage detection tools.
Today, these tasks are done by visual inspection and very traditional methods such as the tap test.
This labor-intensive task is done at a frequency of less than once every two years for bridges, and
on an as-needed basis for other infrastructures such as buildings. Structural health monitoring
techniques based on changes in dynamic characteristics have been studied for the last three
decades. When the damage is substantial, these methods have some success in determining if
damage has occurred. At incipient stages of damage, however, the existing methods are not as
successful.

Andrea E. Del Grosso, Structural Health Monitoring is one of the preferred research topics in
structural engineering but practical applications are still behind, at least in the civil sector. The
paper is aimed at reviewing the main research achievements on the subject and to argue about the
reasons because practical applications still encounter difficulties in becoming a standard practice
in civil engineering.

Venu Gopal Madhav, Annamdasl and Yaowen Yang, The last decade electromechanical
impedance (EMI) based monitoring technique using piezoceramic (PZT) sensors have been
successfully implemented in health monitoring of lab-sized engineering structures. However its
implementation in real life application such as monitoring underground support structures has not
been done before.

Zhijian Shu, Aimed at the high water and high alkali environment in concrete, a small embedded
piezoelectric ceramic sensor for monitoring reinforced concrete structure is developed, and its
basic performance parameters are given. According to the working principle of the charge
amplifier, the formula of the output voltage of the piezoelectric ceramic sensor subjected to
vertical uniform force is deduced according to the piezoelectric equation.

Y.Lu & Z.Li, In this paper, the new methodology to detect the crack propagation in concrete will
be presented. The methodology will employ newly developed cement-based piezoelectric sensors
that can be embedded into a concrete structure. The new sensors have the advantages of good
compatibility with concrete, broad flat response spectrum, and good durability. By employing

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cement-based piezoelectric sensors, different mode of fractures have been studied, including
tension, shear and mixed mode.

Chapter - 3
METHODOLOGY

3.1 General

The scientific community across the globe is giving significant efforts toward the
development of new techniques for structural health monitoring (SHM) and non-destructive
evaluation (NDE), for civil-structures. Civil engineering structures such as bridges have a long
design life and, therefore, unavoidably come across material aging and increasing of traffic. The
structural health monitoring (SHM) is the use of on-site nondestructive sensing technology,
through the analysis of the structure system characteristics including structural responses, to
achieve the purpose of detection of structural damage or degradation. The structural health
monitoring defined by some as "the use of in-situ, nondestructive sensing and analysis of
structural characteristics, including the structural response, for detecting changes that may indicate
damage or degradation". Through the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) technology, early
detection of structural damage is possible with a resultant optimization of maintenance. As
impedance transducers, the PZT patches present excellent performance as far as damage
sensitivity and cost-effectiveness are concerned. Typically, their sensitivity is high enough to
capture any structural damage at the incipient stage, well before it acquires detectable
macroscopic dimensions. This new SHM/ NDE technique is popularly called the electro-
mechanical impedance (EMI) technique which is used to determine the health of existing bridge
structure.

Methodology is nothing but the systematic way of solving any problem. Solution for this work is
based up on two phase.
 
A. Electromechanical impedance method.
B. Monitoring Wooden Frame model using frequencies and impedance of model due to vibrations.

3.2 Experimental work:

3.2.1 Basics of Electromechanical Impedance:

The PZT patch is surface bonded to the structure. When alternating electric field is applied
to the patch it expands and contracts dynamically in direction 1. Hence, two end points of the
patch can be assumed to encounter equal impedance from the host structure.

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Fig. No. 3.1 Liang’s 1D Impedance model.

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The impedance approach was proposed by Liang et al. (1994). In this approach, the whole
system is modelled as a PZT patch attached to structural impedance Zs, as shown in Figure. The
patch undergoes axial vibrations under an alternating electric field E3. The mechanical impedance
of the structure can be related to the force F by
F = - Zu … (3.1)........................Where u is the velocity at the tip of the patch.

The PZT patch is surface bonded to the structure. When alternating electric field is applied
to the patch it expands and contracts dynamically in direction 1. Hence, two end points of the
patch can be assumed to encounter equal impedance from the host structure. In recent years, the
damage detection with E/M impedance method has gained increased attention. The method uses
small-size piezoelectric active sensors intimately bonded to an existing structure, or embedded
into a new composite construction. Experimental demonstrations have shown that the real part of
the high-frequency impedance spectrum is directly affected by the presence of damage or defects
in the monitored structure Pioneering work on utilization of E/M impedance method was
presented by Liang et al. (1994) who performed the coupled E/M analysis of adaptive systems
driven by a surface-attached piezoelectric wafer. However, no modeling of the structural substrate
was included, and no prediction of structural impedance for a multi-DOF structure was presented.
This work was continued and extended by Sun et al. (1994) who used the halfpower bandwidth
method to accurately determine the natural frequency values.

Fig.3.2 PZT wafer transducer acting as active sensor to monitor structural damage mounting of the
PZT wafer transducer on a damaged structure and change in E/M impedance due to the presence of a crack.

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While the structural dynamics was always accounted for in the solution, the majority of authors
assumed that the stiffness of the piezoelectric sensor is static and no sensor dynamics was
considered. Giurgiutiu and Zagrai derived an expression where the dynamics of a sensor was
incorporated and the E/M impedance spectrum was modeled to simulate the direct measurements
at the sensor’s terminals. The authors limited themselves to the one-dimension structure. Thus, the
modeling was verified with simple beam specimen. In the same reference, the method for sensor’s
self-diagnostics was suggested. The experimental efforts to utilize the E/M impedance method for
complex structures were highly investigated. The application of the method ranges from the joints
assessment to the civil and aerospace structures. The method has been shown to be especially
effective at ultrasonic frequencies, which properly capture the changes in local dynamics due to
incipient structural damage. In this paper, the theoretical analysis for 2-D isotropic circular plates
structures is presented. Both, axial and flexural components of natural vibrations are included for
in the solution. Theoretical analysis is performed for particular boundary conditions to model the
experimental set-up.
The analytical model is validated with experimental results. Systematic experiments
conducted on statistical samples of incrementally damaged specimens were used to fully
understand and calibrate the investigative method. Good matching between theoretical prediction
and experimental data is illustrated.

3.2.2 Experimental setup

.

Fig. No.3.3 Experimental setup for the work.

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3.3 Instruments used:

3.3.1Digital Storage Oscilloscope:

A digital oscilloscope is an instrument which stores a digital copy of the waveform in the
digital memory which it analyses further using digital signal processing techniques rather than
using analogue techniques. It captures the non-repetitive signals and displays it consciously until
the device gets reset. In digital storage oscilloscope, signals are received, stored and then
displayed. The maximum frequency measured by digital oscilloscope depends upon two things:
one is sampling rate of the scope, and the other is the nature of the converter. Converter is either
analogue or digital. The traces in digital oscilloscope are bright, highly defined, and displayed
within seconds as they are non- stored traces. The main advantage of the digital oscilloscope is
that it can display visual as well as numerical values by analyzing the stored traces. There is a
small screen, which shows input voltage on a particular axis for the period of time. Even it could
display three-dimensional figure or multiple wave forms for comparison purpose by doing some
changes. It has an advantage that it can capture and store electronic events for the future purpose.
The digital oscilloscopes are widely used today because of its advanced features of storage,
display, fast traces rate and remarkable bandwidth.

Fig No.3.4 Digital Storage Oscilloscope.

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3.3.2 LCR Data Bridge:

An LCR meter (Inductance (l), Capacitance (C), and Resistance (R)) is an instrument
used to measure the inductance, capacitance, and resistance of a component, sensor or other
device that’s operation depends upon capacitance, inductance or resistance. Digital LCR meters
measure the current (I) flowing through a device under test (DUT), the voltage (V) across the
DUT, and the phase angle between the measured V and I. From these three measurements, all
impedance parameters can then be calculated. Generally, LCR meters in this class have an
accuracy of +/-1%.

Fig 3.5. LCR Data bridge.

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3.3.4 Sensors

1. A piezoelectric sensor is a device that uses the piezoelectric effect, to measure changes in
pressure, acceleration, temperature, strain, or force by converting them to an electrical
charge.
2. Two main groups of materials are used for piezoelectric sensors: piezoelectric ceramics
and single crystal materials.
3. The main effect on the piezoelectric effect is that with increasing pressure loads and
temperature, the sensitivity reduces due to twin formation.

Fig. No. 3.6 Patches on frame before damage.

Fig. No. 3.7 Patches on frame after damage.

3.3.5 Specifications of plywood Frame

Size of frame = 40 x 40 X 40 (cm)

Size of column = 8 X 8 X 40 (cm )
Size of Beam = 40 X 8 X 6 (cm )

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Chapter - 4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1. Experimental results:-
A) Impedance (Z): The concept of mechanical impedance of structures is similar to the concept
of electrical impedance in electrical circuits.
Patch No :- 01
Before Damage:-
 Resistance before damage obtained is 944.0Ω.

Fig. No. 4.1 Resistance before damage(R) of patch - 1

 Conductance before damage is found to be 2.5917kΩ.

Fig. No. 4.2 Conductance before damage(X) of patch – 2

Therefore, impedance can be calculated as (Z) = √ R2 + X 2

(Z) = √ 0.9442 +2.5917 2
Impedance (Z) = 2.758 kΩ

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After Damage:-
 Resistance after damage obtained is 1007.5Ω.

Fig. No. 4.3 Resistance after damage (R) of patch - 1

 Conductance after damage is found to be 3.661kΩ.

Fig. No.4.4 Conductance after damage (X) of patch - 1

Therefore, impedance can be calculated as (Z) = √ R2 + X 2

(Z) = √ 1.0072 +3.6612
Impedance (Z) = 3.796 kΩ

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Patch No :- 02
Before Damage:-
 Resistance before damage obtained is 985.6Ω.

Fig. No.4.5 Resistance before damage (R) of patch - 2

 Conductance before damage is found to be 2.6390kΩ

Fig. No.4.6 Conductance before damage (X) of patch - 2

Therefore, impedance can be calculated as (Z) = √ R2 + X 2

(Z) = √ 0.98562 +2.6392
Impedance (Z) = 2.817 kΩ

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After Damage:-
 Resistance after damage obtained is 1031.4Ω.

Fig. No.4.7 Resistance after damage (R) of patch - 2

 Conductance after damage is found to be 3.662kΩ.

Fig. No.4.8 Conductance before damage (X) of patch - 2

Therefore, impedance can be calculated as (Z) = √ R2 + X 2

(Z) = √ 1.0312+3.6622
Impedance (Z) = 3.80 kΩ

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Patch No :- 03
Before Damage:-
 Resistance before damage obtained is 1027.0Ω.

Fig. No.4.9 Resistance before damage (R) of patch - 3

 Conductance before damage is found to be 2.6206kΩ.

Fig. No. 4.10 Conductance before damage (X) of patch - 3

Therefore, impedance can be calculated as (Z) = √ R2 + X 2

(Z) = √ 1.0272 +2.6202
Impedance (Z) = 2.81 kΩ

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After Damage:-
 Resistance after damage obtained is 1281.1Ω.

Fig. No. 4.11 Resistance after damage (R) of patch - 3

 Conductance before damage is found to be 3.661kΩ.

Fig. No.4.12 Conductance after damage (X) of patch - 3

Therefore, impedance can be calculated as (Z) = √ R2 + X 2

(Z) = √ 1.2812+3.6612
Impedance (Z) = 3.87 kΩ

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B) Frequency:

1) Patch No:- 1

 Peak frequency before damage is 88.38 Hz.

Fig. No. 4.13 Peak frequency before damage of patch - 1

 Patch 1: Peak frequency after damage is 99.3 Hz

Fig. No. 4.14 Peak frequency before damage of patch - 1

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2) Patch No:- 2

 Peak frequency before damage is 95.01 Hz

Fig. No.4.14 Peak frequency before damage of patch - 2.

 Patch 2: Peak frequency after damage is 120.0 Hz

Fig. No.4.14 Peak frequency before damage of patch - 2.

3) Patch No:- 3

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 Peak frequency before damage is 92.59Hz

Fig. No. 4.15 Peak frequency before damage of patch - 3.

 Patch 3: Peak frequency after damage is 111.1 Hz

Fig. No. 4.16 Peak frequency before damage of patch - 3.

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Table No.1: Result

Parameter Patch No Before Damage After Damage Change

Impedance Patch - 1 0.944 kΩ 1.007 kΩ 0.063 kΩ
Frequency Patch - 1 88.36 Hz 99 Hz 10.64 Hz
Impedance Patch – 2 0.985 kΩ 1.031 kΩ 0.046 kΩ
Frequency Patch – 2 95 Hz 120 Hz 25 Hz
Impedance Patch – 3 1.027 kΩ 1.281 kΩ 0.254 kΩ
Frequency Patch - 3 92 Hz 111 Hz 19 Hz

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Chapter - 5
CONCLUSION

Owing to exceptional mechanical and electric coupling properties, piezoelectric materials hold
many potential applications in the fields of structural health monitoring and repair. It is found
from research studies that piezoelectric materials have remarkable sensing and exciting capacities.
It can be concluded that plain piezoelectric sensors have the capability to detect the cracks in
beam and column with reasonable accuracy. In addition, as an alternative to conventional
materials for structural repair, the piezoelectric materials possess promising features (e.g., light
weight) to overcome the problems caused by conventional repair methods.
In this study, the electro-mechanical impedance
method is used to obtain damage using surface bonded PZT patches. The proposed method was
tested on a wooden frame that was subjected to vibrations. The PZT patches were found to give
meaningful insight into the changes taking place in the structural parameters as a result of damage.

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