Multifunctional Materials
Self-Sensing Cementitious sensors
Current research on cementitious sensors aims at developing the tools and techniques needed to use concrete doped with nano-inclusions as a multi-functional, self-sensing, structural material. Potential applications for smart-cementitious materials include smart mortar for monitoring of historic structures and smart pavements for monitoring of transportation infrastructures. The temporal resistance drift found in concrete mixtures doped with multiwalled carbon nanotubes has been addressed through the used of a biphasic measurement approach. Additionally, a model-assisted damage detection approach termed the resistor mesh model has been developed for the automated detection of damage in smart-concrete.
Selected Publications
Andrea Meoni, Antonella D'Alessandro, Austin Downey, Enrique García-Macías, Marco Rallini, A. Luigi Materazzi, Luigi Torre, Simon Laflamme, Rafael Castro-Triguero, and Filippo Ubertini, "An Experimental Study on Static and Dynamic Strain Sensitivity of Embeddable Smart Concrete Sensors Doped with Carbon Nanotubes for SHM of Large Structures." Measurement Science and Technology, vol. 18, no. 3, 2018, p. 831. doi:10.3390/s18030831. PDF link BibTeX
Austin Downey, Antonella D'Alessandro, Filippo Ubertini, and Simon Laflamme, "Automated Crack Detection in Conductive Smart-concrete Structures Using a Resistor Mesh Model." Measurement Science and Technology, vol. 29, no. 3, 2018, p. 035107. doi:10.1088/1361-6501/aa9fb8. PDF link BibTeX
Austin Downey, Antonella D'Alessandro, Simon Laflamme and Filippo Ubertini, "Smart Bricks for Strain Sensing and Crack Detection in Masonry Structures." Smart Materials and Structures, vol. 27, no. 1, 2017, p. 015009. doi:10.1088/1361-665X/aa98c2 PDF link BibTeX
Austin Downey, Antonella D'Alessandro, Micah Baquera, Enrique García-Macías, Daniel Rolfes, Filippo Ubertini, Simon Laflamme and Rafael Castro-Triguero, "Damage Detection, Localization and Quantification in Conductive Smart Concrete Structures Using a Resistor Mesh Model." Engineering Structures, vol. 148, 2017, p. 924-935. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2017.07.022 PDF link BibTeX
Antonella D'Alessandro, Filippo Ubertini, Enrique García-Macías, Rafael Castro-Triguero, Austin Downey, Simon Laflamme, Andrea Meoni and Annibale Luigi Materazzi, "Static and Dynamic Strain Monitoring of Reinforced Concrete Components through Embedded Carbon Nanotube Cement-Based Sensors." Shock and Vibration, vol. 2017, 2017, p. 1-11. 2017. doi:10.1155/2017/3648403 PDF link BibTeX
Enrique García-Macías, Austin Downey, Antonella D'Alessandro, Rafael Castro-Triguero, Simon Laflamme and Filippo Ubertini, "Enhanced Lumped Circuit Model for Smart Nanocomposite Cement-based Sensors Under Dynamic Compressive Loading Conditions." Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, vol. 260, 2017, p. 45-57. doi:10.1016/j.sna.2017.04.004 PDF link BibTeX
Austin Downey, Antonella D'Alessandro, Filippo Ubertini, Simon Laflamme and Randall Geiger, "Biphasic DC Measurement Approach for Enhanced Measurement Stability and Multi-channel Sampling of Self-sensing Multi-functional Structural Materials Doped With Carbon-based Additives." Smart Materials and Structures, vol. 26, no. 6, 2017, p. 065008. doi:10.1088/1361-665X/aa6b66 PDF link BibTeX