Acoustic emission monitoring of grouted splice sleeve connectors and reinforced precast concrete bridge assemblies

Acoustic emission (AE) monitoring was performed for two types of grouted splice sleeve (GSS) connectors used in reinforced precast concrete structures. The GSS connectors were subjected to monotonic tension tests. AE assessment of the GSS connectors demonstrated that AE events and event rates could be used to identify failure modes which were steel bar fracture for the first type of connectors and steel bar pullout for the second type. The AE event history curves can be taken as representative of each GSS connector type. AE monitoring was also performed for reinforced precast concrete column-to-footing and column-to-pier cap bridge assemblies utilizing GSS connectors. The bridge assemblies were subjected to quasi-static cyclic loads simulating earthquakes. The failure modes of the GSS connectors were also observed in the cyclic tests of the bridge assemblies. AE monitoring was able to identify column concrete cracking and full development of concrete cracks using a small number of sensors. The AE method was also able to identify rotation of the column for the column-to-footing assembly after fracture of column longitudinal bars.