Signal Loss, Spatial Resolution, and Sensitivity of Long Coaxial Crack Sensors
Abstract
Configuration-based coaxial cable sensors have recently been developed to detect cracks in reinforced concrete (RC) structures. These sensors have shown a high sensitivity when applied to several short RC flexural members. However, the signal losses resulting from a long cable sensor may distort the initial waveform of the electromagnetic wave propagating along the cable, thereby compromising the spatial resolution and sensitivity of this sensor. The signal losses consist of the contributions from the skin effect of conductors, energy absorption in the dielectric material, and impedance mismatch loss due to multiple signal reflections resulting from discontinuities caused by the separation between the adjacent spirals, which acts as the outer conductor of a cable sensor. This paper summarizes the basic physics of signal losses in cable sensors, and investigates the impact of the signal losses on the spatial resolution and sensitivity of a cable sensor over distance. Several methods are proposed to simulate and quantify various factors affecting the signal losses.
Recommended Citation
S. Sun et al., "Signal Loss, Spatial Resolution, and Sensitivity of Long Coaxial Crack Sensors," Proceedings of the Smart Structures and Materials Conference 2004 -- Sensors and Smarth Structures Techonologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems (2004, San Diego, CA), vol. 5391, pp. 786 - 797, SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering, Mar 2004.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1117/12.540033
Meeting Name
Smart Structures and Materials Conference 2004 -- Sensors and Smarth Structures Techonologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems (2004: Mar. 14-18, San Diego, CA)
Department(s)
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Second Department
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Cathode Ray Oscilloscopes; Cracks; Dielectric Losses; Electric Potential; Optical Resolving Power; Reinforced Concrete; Coaxial Crack Sensors; Multiple Signal Reflections; Spatial Resolution; Sensors; Sensitivity; Signal Loss; Skin Effect
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0277-786X
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2004 SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
18 Mar 2004
