Research on performance of smart concrete materials and self-monitoring of cracks in beam members

Due to adverse factors such as load and environment exposure, concrete structures often work with cracks during their service period. The occurrence and growth of cracks significantly reduces safety and durability of the structures. It is thus significant to track and monitor cracks in concrete structures in real-time. This paper studies strength, toughness, and crack self-monitoring performance of a large number of smart concrete mixes through addition of two conductive materials, i.e., steel fiber and nano carbon black, into the concrete. Firstly, effect of adding the individual and hybrid conductive materials to concrete mixes on compressive strength, bending toughness and electrical conductivity was investigated. This was followed by studying crack self-monitoring performance and mechanism of the smart concrete beam members under load. The research provides insight and new results of material properties and crack self-monitoring performance in research and development of low-cost smart concrete.