The effects of damage and self-healing on impedance spectroscopy of strain-hardening cementitious materials

This work elucidated the effects of damage and self-healing on the frequency-dependent electrical response of strain-hardening cementitious materials. Electrical impedance spectroscopy was conducted before material cracking, during single crack opening, sequential formation of multiple microcracks, and subsequent self-healing of the microcracks. The results revealed that the material complex impedance was strongly influenced by crack opening and crack number; both changed during mechanical straining as well as the self-healing process. A new equivalent circuit model was formulated for predicting the frequency-dependent electrical response of the material during damage evolution and self-healing process. Analyzing the changes of model parameters revealed the mechanisms that contribute to the frequency-dependent electromechanical response of the material. This study generated new experimental data and analytical model coupling the electrical response with damage level in cementitious materials. The new understandings are critical for the next step of realizing damage sensing in strain-hardening cementitious materials through frequency-dependent AC measurements.