Advances in Self-Sensing Ultra-High-Performance Concrete: A Comprehensive Review

In the past three decades, ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is undoubtedly been one of the most innovative engineering materials, and its application scenarios have become more and more extensive. Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) has the inherent potential of self-sensing ability because it contains steel fibres or other conductive materials. The paper aims to explore the research status of the self-sensing performance of ultra-high-performance concrete. Self-sensing concrete has attracted extensive attention in engineering and academia, mainly to replace the traditional health monitoring system for the health monitoring of concrete structures. Many studies have examined the electrical and piezoresistive properties of UHPC. With the combination of micro steel fibres, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers or nano graphite sheets, it has opened up great potential for UHPC to effectively sense stress, strain and crack. The research focuses on the self-sensing principle, characteristics and influencing factors of self-sensing ultra-high performance concrete. The results show that in the concrete with 20 μ m diameter and 0.5% SSSW content, seepage and polarisation disappear, and the resistivity measured by the four electrode DC method decreases from 20.8 × 104 Ω· cm to 44 Ω· cm. Future considerations/Recommendations for self-sensing concrete in the engineering field are summarised. To sum up, the research on the self-sensing performance of UHPC has not only made a breakthrough in theory but also shown great potential in practical application. Future research will further promote its application and development in the field of intelligent building materials.