Smart textile reinforcement with embedded stainless steel yarns for the detection of wetting and infiltration in TRC structures

• Smart TRC elements with capability of self-sensing wetting and infiltration events is developed.
• The electrical features of stainless steel roving embedded in the textile are used as a sensing agent.
• Four sensing concepts and four electrical schemes are presented, tested, and compared.
• Infiltration through cracked zones allows detecting wetting, cracking, and their interaction.

This study examines the feasibility of smart textile reinforced concrete (TRC) elements with self-sensing capabilities that are based on stainless steel yarns knitted in the textile grid. The self-sensory structural element combines the advantages of the glass fiber based TRC technology for thin-walled structural elements with those stemming from the electrical properties of yarns made of stainless steel filaments knitted in the textile fabric. The current study explores the ability of the yarns to sense humidity governed by infiltration of water through cracked zones along the structure. To examine this concept and its potential feasibility, a TRC beam specimen with stainless steel sensory yarns knitted in a glass fiber fabric is tested and monitored under different environmental conditions. The paper looks into the ability of the embedded steel yarns to detect wetting through the comparison of four electrical schemes and four sensing concepts. The results of the tests demonstrate the features of each sensory scheme and reveal its potential use as a basis for functional monitoring in TRC structures.