Suresh Bhalla

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• PhD
• Professor at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Driven by technological advancements and accelerated infrastructure development , an increase in the need to monitor the performance of prominent structures such as bridges, metro-corridors, and sea-link bridges is being advocated by experts to predict and minimize any hazards resulting from the degradation of the structures over time. However, acc...

Piezoelectric materials have secured a significant place in the field of structural health monitoring (SHM) and vibration energy harvesting over the past two decades. Although these materials are available in several forms and configurations, the efficacy of curved configurations is still unexplored. This study investigates, both experimentally and...

In today's rapidly urbanizing world, there is dire need for adopting the principles of green/ sustainable built-environment so as to mitigate the ill effects of environmental degradation and climate change. However, demand for housing is on rise in developing countries like India, where sizeable population, especially the low-income strata, still l...

Piezoelectric materials have secured a significant place in the field of structural health monitoring (SHM) and energy harvesting over the past two decades. These materials are available in several forms and configurations, the efficacy of especially curved configurations is still unexplored. This article investigates, both experimentally and numer...

Driven by technological advancements and accelerated infrastructure development, an increase in the need to monitor the performance of prominent structures such as bridges, metro-corridors, and sea-link bridges is being advocated by experts to predict and minimize any hazards resulting from the degradation of the structures over time. However, acce...

In the last two decades, the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) approach has been established as an effective technique for structural health monitoring (SHM) of civil structures. When employed in the EMI technique, piezo sensors exhibit extremely high sensitivity towards structural damage. However, the instrumentation of piezo sensors to a structu...

Energy harvesting from structural vibrations of civil structures using piezoelectric elements has emerged as a promising renewable source for generating power for microelectronic devices such as wireless sensor nodes (WSNs) deployed for structural health monitoring (SHM), sustainable transportation, Internet of Things (IoTs), etc. In recent past, s...

This paper presents a novel algorithm for compensating the changes in conductance signatures of a piezo sensor due to the temperature variation employed in condition monitoring using the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) approach. It is crucial to consider the changes in an EMI signature due to temperature before using it for comparison with the b...

Piezo sensors are a class of smart material based dynamic stain measuring sensors which are yet to be thoroughly investigated for modal analysis based global level monitoring. Operational modal analysis is a vibration testing technique to obtain the modal parameters under low amplitude operational excitation forces. This study investigates and eval...

In spite of the unparalleled success of the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique for most daily engineering-related structural health monitoring (SHM), a major limitation in the usage of PZT patch for bio-applications is the adhesive bond layer which acts as an irritant and hazard. It may also result in skin lacerations and abrasions. Previ...

Although piezoelectric energy harvesting (PEH) from structural vibrations is well-recognized as a viable paradigm for renewable power generation in the micro-to milliwatt range, most real-life structures, such as bridges, are characterized by low-frequency erratic vibrations, which tend to diminish their practical utility for PEH. This is because t...

Strain modal analysis, as a new domain in the health monitoring field, needs to be studied in depth for experimental modal testing. Towards this purpose, this paper experimentally investigates the efficacy of piezo sensors for structural identification for structural health monitoring under different excitations applicable to large-scale structures...

This article presents the fabrication and testing of a new reusable piezo sensor configuration along with a practical damage detection cum localization algorithm. The proposed sensor configuration is suitable for widespread application of the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique on large-sized thin-walled steel structures. Traditionally, th...

This study aimed to establish piezosensors for vibration-based structural health monitoring using modal testing. Modal testing of 1.27 x 0.96 x 0.0065 m rectangular steel plate simply supported on all four edges was performed at different stages of artificial damage. It was covered by a 150 x 150 mm square plate connected by four 10 mm diameter bol...

Two-dimensional thin structural elements, such as plates, shells, and membranes, are used to introduce pre-stress while loading. Lateral vibrations and elastic stability are very common problems associated with thin-walled industrial structures, posing a high risk of structural failure in the buckling mode. This paper aims to test the possibility o...

Cyclic loading, when acting upon a structure due to natural or man-made causes, deteriorates its strength slowly. This phenomenon might result in fatigue failure, which is often catastrophic and sudden. Such failure can also occur in underlying rocks over which civil structures are built. It is very crucial to identify the damage in the surrounding...

This paper evaluates a new hybrid passive device that comprises two different passive energy dissipation categories, namely, viscoelastic damper and friction damper. The device operates as a synergic unit using a novel locking mechanism. The hybrid passive device offsets the drawbacks of individual devices and facilitates improving the performance...

Good health of bones is of the utmost importance to human beings. Smart materials like lead zirconate titanate (PZT) patches are small in size and carry less weight, which makes them most apt for biomedical structural health monitoring (BSHM). In the past, focus on the development of low-cost non-invasive techniques for real-time monitoring of crit...

The present study propose a novel application of wavelet transform energy of piezo-impedance signatures in monitoring the premature fatigue damages of restrengthened reinforced concrete (RC) frames. The steel plates on one column of the damaged RC frame and carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) wrap on the other were utilized as the local strength...

This proceedings contains keynote and general papers presented at the International Virtual 3S conference jointly organized by Institute of Science and Spirituality, New Delhi and ISKCON, New Delhi , during 22-23 May 2021. The overall theme of the conference was: "Sustainability, spirituality and simplicity is inclusive of the full breath of ec...

Modal analysis is a dynamic response-based experimental structural identification procedure widely used for condition assessment and structural health monitoring (SHM). Piezoelectric sensors are smart material-based dynamic strain sensors being progressively implemented in vibration-based monitoring techniques. However, these have been so far limit...

The production of principal construction materials, namely concrete and steel, is a major source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions today, rendering the construction industry as a major contributor of pollution. .Bamboo, a potential structural material, on the other hand, is not only a renewable, fast growing and strong, but also promises negative c...

The conference proceedings contain full-length keynote and general articles presented at the International Conference on Futuristic Technologies 2021 (FT 21), held in online mode during 22-24 January 2021. This conference was organized by Smart Structures and Dynamics Laboratory (SSDL), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and partnered by Futurist...

This paper presents a new hybrid passive control device, consisting of a viscoelastic and a friction damper connected in parallel, to mitigate the effects of wind and seismic events. The two components are synergized with the aid of a novel locking mechanism, which enables the action of one or both the components depending upon the device deformati...

Structural health monitoring has contrived a path for ascertaining the condition of any structure under operating or critical loads. This paper investigates a possible application of the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique in diagnosing high-cycle and low-strain fatigue damage in the reinforced concrete (RC) structures. The experimental st...

The paper presents a novel structural health monitoring approach based on the wavelet energy of admittance signals to detect, localize and estimate the severity of the damages caused by fatigue in reinforced concrete (RC) frames. Admittance signatures in user-defined frequency ranges are acquired experimentally using six piezo-cement composite disk...

In this paper, a piezoelectric sensor is used in its non-bonded configuration for non-destructive evaluation of a pipeline segment subjected to progressive corrosion damage. A new non-bonded sensor configuration, specially adapted for small diameter pipelines, known as modified non-bonded sensor (MNS), is proposed and evaluated. The new sensor conf...

Effective monitoring of concrete hydration makes construction of civil structures efficient and safe by indicating the strength gain of concrete under curing. Due to the complexity in construction practices, the condition monitoring of concrete is still a challenge for engineers. Hence, even after the curing of concrete as per the recommendations b...

Fatigue is progressive damage to the structure that is propelled due to decrement in the strength of material when subjected to cyclic loads. The present work deals with numerically assessing the life of concrete column under the influence of flexural fatigue load. Stress life analysis is considered for analysing the life and fracture parameters of...

Hydration of concrete is a very complicated and multiphase process, where the cement gel transforms into a hardened state from plastic/semiplastic phase. Proper progression of the hydration process ensures the development of targeted mechanical properties such as the elastic modulus, the coefficient of thermal expansion, the Poisson’s ratio, and fi...

With new advancements in construction technologies, the researchers and engineers have started taking a greater interest in structural health monitoring (SHM). Some of these techniques involve monitoring of structures using piezo sensors, made of smart materials such as Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) in form of thin patches. One of such techniques w...

The present study experimentally investigates the systematic performance in monitoring the high cycle fatigue damages of Reinforced Concrete (RC) frame structure while implementing the Electro-mechanical Impedance (EMI) technique. PZT transducers embedded in concrete frame in form of ceramic patches has been excited electrically at healthy and dama...

In the recent years, there has been a growing interest in research community towards the application of smart materials for bio-medical structural health monitoring. Amongst the smart materials, directly bonded piezo sensors (DBPS), based on the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique, have been successfully employed for the above purpose. The...

The electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique is a signature-based structural health monitoring (SHM) technique that has gained recognition in the field of Civil Engineering in the past two decades. Any deviation in the signature, if detected, points to the occurrence of damage in the host structure. However, bonding piezo sensors permanently to...

Corrosion is a step-by-step process of destruction of metal by electrochemical reaction with their surrounding environments. In the last few decade corrosion in reinforced concrete is a major issue which leads to early deterioration of the concrete structure. Geopolymer is an alternative binder material to Portland cement. However, this study is fo...

Progressive damage to any structure causing the decrement in material strength when subjected to alternate cyclic loading condition is termed as fatigue. The present work deals with numerically assessing the life of concrete frame under the influence of flexural fatigue load using ANSYS Mechanical computer program. Stress life analysis is considere...

The electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique is a signature-based technique for structural health monitoring (SHM). It is a well-known fact that the signature of the piezo sensors is very sensitive to the temperature fluctuation. This can, however, trigger a false alarm. Experimental investigations conducted in controlled environments do not re...

The concept of piezoelectric energy harvesting (PEH) provides a promising solution for perpetually running low‐power electronic devices such as wireless sensor networks by harvesting ambient vibrations generated from civil structures such as long span bridges, city flyovers, elevated metro corridors, which are constantly under dynamic loads. Howeve...

Concrete is primarily used in the form of reinforced concrete for construction of buildings, bridges and other important structures. Due to normal usage and environmental effects, the structure would gradually deteriorate. The actual residual life needs to be worked at a given time vis-à-vis the design life of the structure, commensurate with the f...

Directly bonded piezo sensor (DBPS), conventionally employed in the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique, although a proven candidate for structural health monitoring (SHM), is severely constrained in its application in the biomedical field due to its bonding requirement. In contrast, non-bonded piezo sensor (NBPS) provides a viable platfor...

This article aims at developing a generic system for the damage and retrofitting monitoring along with long-term strength and first-stage fatigue monitoring of reinforced concrete structures using embedded Lead Zirconate Titanate sensors in the form of concrete vibration sensors. The concrete vibration sensor is a ready-to-use sensor, and its uniqu...

This paper presents a new variant of the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique encompassing sensor-actuator dual configuration for improved damage assessment. In this arrangement, called as dual piezo configuration (DPC), an outer piezoelectric ring acts as the actuator and an inner piezoelectric disc as the sensor. The configuration yields...

The electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique has already been established to be an effective technique for detecting incipient damages in engineering structures including reinforced concrete (RC) using smart piezo-electric sensors. Its effectiveness in monitoring the hydration of concrete, using surface bonded and embedded lead zirconium titana...

Fatigue induced damage under low-strain conditions is a commonly encountered phenomenon in reinforced concrete (RC) structures subjected to continuous vibrations, such as bridges under vehicular loads, buildings under wind and structures directly supporting or in the vicinity of vibration emitting machinery. This type of fatigue tends to weaken the...

Concrete structures are often subjected to a wide array of load conditions, such as fatigue and impact, and the consequent damages. Recently, smart materials, in particular the piezoelectric materials, have received high attention from the point of view of structural health monitoring (SHM). In this connection, the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI...

Concrete is the most widely used material in civil engineering construction. Its life begins when the hydration process is activated after mixing the cement granulates with water. In this paper, a non-dimensional hydration parameter, obtained from piezoelectric ceramic (PZT) patches bonded to rebars embedded inside concrete, is employed to monitor...

The recent advent of smart materials in structural health monitoring (SHM) has paved the path for research as well as varied applications of piezo-sensors in the field of engineering. As a smart material, lead–zirconate–titanate (PZT) has proven to be an indispensable tool for SHM due to its easy availability in varying sizes and shapes, cost-effec...

With the increase in infrastructure developments and increasing emphasis on the use of green materials, the construction industry is in the need of constant innovation and improvisation in both materials and technology. The fly ash (FA) is most widely used in the construction field as a replacement of cement in concrete production. In this paper, m...

An embedded piezo sensor has high sensitivity, higher longevity, low cost and special encapsulation to the sensing element such that it is protected against deterioration by water. Its application of self-sensing mechanism technology is aimed at achieving high performance, better and more reliability and uniform quality. In this study different ble...

Due to ruggedness, cost-effectiveness and high damage sensitivity, PZT sensors have been effectively used for structural health monitoring. Health monitoring is the continuous measurement of the loading environment and the critical responses of systems or its components. The present work deals with mainly the application of EMI technique to assess...

This paper presents the new developments undertaken by the bamboo research group (BRG) at IIT Delhi in the area of sustainable construction. Bamboo is a natural grass, which grows fully in much less time and with much less resources as compared to timber, which is fast depleting across the world. A scientific design approach has been formulated rec...

Piezoelectric materials convert mechanical strain to electrical energy. Hence, piezoelectricity has been found to be effective in energy harvesting by making the use of structural vibrations which are quite significant in the case of concrete bridges and railway sleepers. The energy produced can be used to drive low power sensors for data acquisiti...

Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting from Ambient Outdoor Wind & HVAC (Indoor) Wind

Asia is the largest and most populous continent in the world with over 45 million square kilometers of land mass and 4.5 billion people. Asia is characterized by numerous densely populated cities. Structural health monitoring is a non-issue for the underdeveloped countries where basic amenities of survival are more important. However, structural he...

This paper describes some of the extensive outcomes of a structural load test on a full-scale bamboo-epoxy composite frame. A bundle of 30 small diameter thick-walled bamboo culms was bonded using an epoxy-fibre resin to form structural beam and column elements, which were connected at the beam/column joints using rebar and a novel composite glue t...

Since the last two decades, the electro-mechanical impedance technique has undergone extensive theoretical and experimental transformations coupled with the evolution of newer practical adaptations and variants. Notable among these are the metal wire–based variant, the dual piezo configuration and the embedded configuration, over and above the conv...

This chapter covers the relevant details of structural health monitoring (SHM) using Lead (Pb) zirconate titanate (PZT) patches, operating in both global as well as local modes. It presents the various aspects of SHM using PZT transducers, beginning with basic aspect of PZT material. PZT, the most widely used piezoceramic, is a solid solution of le...

This chapter presents an equivalent stiffness parameter (ESP) based approach for quantifying fatigue induced damage and estimating residual service life in bolted steel lap joints using the EMI technique, without necessitating in-situ measurement of the actual residual stiffness of the component. It focuses on prototype joints subjected to fatigue...

This chapter extends the structural health monitoring (SHM) application of the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique to rebar corrosion monitoring in RC structures. It explains the chloride induced corrosion monitoring, and deals with the detailed experimental study, data acquisition, analysis and development of the corrosion assessment mode...

This chapter explores the possibility of stand-alone Lead (Pb) zirconate titanate (PZT) patches operating in d31 mode for energy harvesting alongside SHM on real life structures. It extends the PZT-bond-structure coupled electro-mechanical models derive to estimate the power generation capability of the surface-bonded and the embedded PZT patches o...

This chapter introduces the phenomenon of shear lag and presents a review of the early shear lag models involving simplification, based on the coverage in the doctoral thesis of the co-author (Moharana, 2012), followed by the recent rigorous model developed by Bhalla and Moharana, 2013. It covers the modeling of the bond effect more accurately and...

This chapter focuses on the theoretical and the practical aspects of piezoelectric energy harvesting (PEH) via thin Lead (Pb) zirconate titanate (PZT) patches operating in the axial strain actuation (d31) mode. It covers various theoretical and practical aspects pertinent to piezoelectric energy harvesting. Though piezoelectric energy harvesting ha...

This chapter deliberates on the futuristic aspects of piezoelectric materials covering advancements in terms of newer materials and possible novel applications in the fields of SHM, energy harvesting and bio-medical engineering. Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) is the most widely used piezoelectric ceramic material among some 200 types of known piezoe...

This chapter covers analytical formulations of the continuum based shear lag model to provide a further improved and more accurate model for force interaction between the host structure and the Lead (Pb) zirconate titanate (PZT) patch through the adhesive bond layer. This formulation takes care of all piezo, structural and adhesive (shear lag) fact...

This chapter focuses on extending the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique to detect and quantify the severity of carbonation induced corrosion, based on experimental investigations involving accelerated carbonation tests on cylindrical specimens. The corrosion assessment is based on the Lead (Pb) zirconate titanate (PZT) identified paramet...

This chapter presents new concepts involving extension of the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) technologies (involving piezo materials) to biosystems, encompassing bio-mechanics and bio-medical engineering. It focuses on two such applications monitoring condition of bones and determining plantar pressure distribution using piezo-transducers. Plan...

This paper explores the possibility of using the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique for structural health monitoring (SHM) of underground rock structures. The underground structures are complex in design and require continuous inspection for their maintenance. However, some of the underground areas are inaccessible for the inspection team...

In view of sustainable development in the construction industry, a new alternative to the ordinary Portland cement concrete has been developed. Geopolymer concrete is a no Portland cement concrete synthesized by the polycondensation of silico-aluminate structures when highly alkaline solutes such as sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide are inco...

This book presents, from theory to practice, key applications of piezoelectric materials in the fields of structural health monitoring (SHM), energy harvesting and bio-mechanics. The chapters provide all the necessary details covering mathematical formulations, sensor installation/ distribution and instrumentation/hardware aspects, duly supported b...

This paper deliberates upon common issues haunting piezoelectric energy harvesting from civil structures. A piezo-electric harvester (PEH) can work as a sustainable and green power source for low power consuming devices, such as wireless sensors used in transportation infrastructure, building automation systems, implanted medical devices, structura...

The electro-mechanical impedance technique has developed rapidly during the past few decades as a reliable health monitoring component of civil structures. However, the high cost of impedance analyzer/LCR meter conventionally used for data acquisition in the electro-mechanical impedance technique restricts its wide use in real applications. This ar...

In the recent years, several biomedical applications of lead zirconate titanate piezo-electric ceramic patches based on the electro-mechanical impedance technique have been reported in the literature. However, practical application of the technique on live subjects is severely hampered due to the requirement of bonding the patch with bone or cartil...

The electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique has been very successful so far in monitoring structural components made of both metals and nonmetals in the fields of civil, mechanical, and aerospace engineering. In the last two decades, researchers have reported fairly good results using the EMI technique through costly conventional hardware, suc...

This paper presents a comparative study through the piezoelectric coupled field analysis mode of finite element method (FEM) on detection of damages of varying magnitude, encompassing three different types of structural materials, using piezo impedance transducers. An aluminum block, a concrete block and a steel block of dimensions 48×48×10 mm were...

Extensive research is currently underway across the world for employing piezo sensors for biomedical health monitoring in view of their obvious advantages such as low cost,fast dynamics response and bio-compatibility.However,one of the limitations of the piezo sensor in bonded mode based on the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique is that i...

This is a study on the so called "carbonation induced corrosion" in reinforced concrete

In addition to chloride induced corrosion, the other commonly occurring type of rebar corrosion in reinforced concrete structures is that induced by the ingress of atmospheric carbon dioxide into concrete, commonly referred to as ‘carbonation induced corrosion’. This paper presents a new approach for detecting the onset and quantifying the level of...