Self-sensing concrete repairs based on alkali-activated materials: recent progress

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of recent highlights and new work from our development of robotically deployed, self-sensing alkali-activated materials: a cement technology which can be used to simultaneously repair and monitor concrete structures. The paper focuses on deployments using robotic spray coating and 3D printing, and on moisture, chloride, and damage monitoring, showing pilot data. The electrical impedance of self-sensing materials follows an exponential decrease with increasing levels of moisture, chloride contamination and temperature as expected. The work demonstrates the promise of using these novel self-sensing materials for measuring environmental measurands that are responsible for the majority of concrete structural health degradation in the field.