Development of sensing method for complete in situ assessment of steel corrosion in concrete

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

This project is to develop a sensing method that can determine the extent of corrosion activity and the rate of active corrosion for all types of steel reinforced concrete systems. This objective is achieved through the application, respectively, of active and passive magnetic field measurements, which are carried out with recently-developed high sensitivity miniature giant magnetoresistive (GMR) sensor IC chips. The research effort is divided into four main tasks: (i) Design and development of active sensing technology Sensor chips, coils, and associated equipment to provide a functioning active magnetic sensing configuration.. (ii) Development of passive sensing technology Sensor chips and associated equipment will be modified and designed to give a functioning passive sensing configuration. The ability of the sensing configuration to detect corrosion rate will be examined. (iii) EE support and sensor packaging A packaged sensor prototype will be developed. Issues such as sensor configuration, signal conditioning, data acquisition, power requirements, etc. will be considered. Physical implementation of a sensor prototype will then follow. (iv) Sensor prototype verification The developed packaged sensor prototype will be applied to full-scale concrete elements.