Practical issues related to the application of the electromechanical impedance technique in the structural health monitoring of civil structures: II. Numerical verification

This paper, the second in a two-part series, presents various finite element simulations on the interaction between a piezo-impedance transducer (lead zirconate titanate, PZT) and a structure, inclusive of the bonding layer, in the application of the electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique with varying temperature. Simulation of the PZT–structure interaction at the high frequency range (up to 1000 kHz) using the commercially available finite element method (FEM) software, ANSYS version 8.1, was successfully performed. Promising results were found when compared to the experimental results. Advantages over the conventional finite element analysis (FEA) based impedance model and the impedance based analytical models include higher accuracy, direct acquisition of electrical admittance/impedance, and the ability to model the PZT and the bonding layer as well as the ambient temperature. This finite element model also successfully verified some vital experimental observations in part I. This study proves that the FEM could emerge as an excellent alternative to experimentation in the study of the EMI technique.