@inproceedings{8711391415664123a7d659ca91d2f5f0,
title = "Dense capacitive sensor array for monitoring distortion-induced fatigue cracks in steel bridges",
abstract = "Distortion-induced fatigue cracks caused by differential deflections between adjacent girders are common issues for steel girder bridges built prior to the mid-1980s in the United States. Monitoring these fatigue cracks is essential to ensure bridge structural integrity. Despite various level of success of crack monitoring methods over the past decades, monitoring distortion-induced fatigue cracks is still challenging due to the complex structural joint layout and unpredictable crack propagation paths. Previously, the authors proposed soft elastomeric capacitor (SEC), a large-size flexible capacitive strain sensor, for monitoring in-plane fatigue cracks. The crack growth can be robustly identified by extracting the crack growth index (CGI) from the measured capacitance signals. In this study, the SECs are investigated for monitoring distortion-induced fatigue cracks. A dense array of SECs is proposed to monitor a large structural surface with fatigue-susceptible details. The effectiveness of this strategy has been verified through a fatigue test of a large-scale bridge girder to cross-frame connection model. By extracting CGIs from the SEC arrays, distortion-induced fatigue crack growth can be successfully monitored.",
keywords = "Capacitive strain sensor, dense sensor array, distortion-induced fatigue crack, fatigue crack monitoring, large area strain sensing, steel bridge, structural health monitoring",
author = "Xiangxiong Kong and Jian Li and William Collins and Caroline Bennett and Hongki Jo and Jeong, {Jong Hyun} and Simon Laflamme",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Transportation Pooled Fund Study, TPF-5(328), which includes the following participating state Departments of Transportation (DOTs): Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Oklahoma; and Iowa Department of Transportation grant #RT454-494. Their support is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also want to thank PhD student Danqing Yu and undergraduate assistant Sam Tankel from the University of Kansas for helping with the skewed bridge girder setup and the fatigue testing, PhD student Austin Downey from the Iowa State University for providing support regarding the data acquisition system, and Justin Ocel from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for providing valuable feedback to the test program. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 SPIE.; Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2018 ; Conference date: 05-03-2018 Through 08-03-2018",
year = "2018",
doi = "10.1117/12.2296592",
language = "English (US)",
series = "Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering",
publisher = "SPIE",
editor = "Kon-Well Wang and Hoon Sohn and Lynch, {Jerome P.}",
booktitle = "Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2018",
}