Crack detection and characterization techniques-An overview

Abstract

SUMMARY Crack occurrence and propagation are among critical factors that affect the performance and lifespan of civil infrastructures such as bridges, pipelines, and so on. As a consequence, numerous crack detection and characterization techniques have been researched and developed in the past decades in the areas of SHM and non‐destructive evaluation (NDE). The significant amount of performed studies and the large number of publications give rise to the need to systematize, condensate, and summarize this enormous effort. The aims of this paper are to summarize the knowledge about cracking and its sources, review both existing and emerging methods for crack detection and characterization, and identify the advantages and challenges for these methods. In general, this paper identifies two sensing approaches (direct and indirect) and two data analysis approaches (model‐based and model‐free or data‐driven) along with a range of associated technologies. The advantages and challenges of each approach and technology are discussed and summarized, and the future research needs are identified. This paper is intended to serve as a reference for researchers who are interested in crack detection and characterization as well as for those who are generally interested in SHM and NDE. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Numerical simulation and experimental validation of a large-area capacitive strain sensor for fatigue crack monitoring

“…However, processing a large volume of images can be time consuming, and the robustness of results can be sensitive to the feature of specific types of cracks. A comprehensive review of crack detection methods can be found in Yao et al [7] Direct strain measurement has the potential to be very effective for crack detection since crack opening leads to abrupt strain change in the localized area. For this reason, both traditional metal foil gages [8] and fiber optic sensors [9] have been evaluated for crack detection.…”

Nonlinear Analysis for the Crack Control of SMA Smart Concrete Beam Based on a Bidirectional B-Spline QR Method

“…Therefrom, { } and {V } obtained by (1) are the real displacements of the structure. Similarly, the spline basis function ( ) can be constructed.…”

“…where [ ] 1 and [ ] 1 are the concrete elastoplastic matrix and the concrete plastic matrix in the biaxial compressive stress state, respectively; and [ ] is the elastic matrix of concrete, which is expressed by…”

“…Once tiny cracks are created, they may expand and lead to accelerated corrosion of steel bars, which reduce structural reliability and durability. And the large cracks that exceed the limit may cause the structural failure [1]. Therefore, the durability and carrying capacity of structures can be effectively improved by controlling the development of cracks.…”

Wireless sensor nodes for generic signal conditioning: Application to Structural Health Monitoring of wind turbines

“…However, dense arrays of sensors are needed, which require high hardware installation and data management. On the other hand, the main advantage of indirect damage detection is its lower cost for hardware and installation and the challenge of this detection method is the reliability and accuracy [2,3]. In recent years, the increasing demand of control and monitoring of structures in industry has caused an evolution on how system maintenance is realized and as a consequence, the aforementioned challenges are being overcome, while SHM approaches are gaining interest [4][5][6][7].…”