Applications of composites, optical fibre sensors and smart composites for concrete rehabilitation: An overview

Many researches and developments in the field of concrete rehabilitation and repair by using fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) materials have been successfully carried out in the last decade. There is no doubt that these materials have been promisingly used to replace conventional steel reinforcements for concrete structure with providing excellent structural durability and margin of safety. Until the last few years, researchers from diverse disciplines have drawn into vigorous efforts to develop a structure, which is able to measure its own structural condition by using embedded optical fibre sensors. This structure was appreciated as "Smart structure". However, the smart structures have not yet been adopted by the civil engineering applications. In this paper, a brief review on the applications of the FRP and optical fibre sensor in concrete repair and structural health monitoring, respectively, is given. Further discussions on the potential use of smart composites for civil engineering applications are also addressed.