Sensor-driven durable low carbon concrete structure

Owing to the high maintenance costs of roads against corrosion, National Highways, the industry partner of this project,
is currently looking for durable sensors for the early detection of corrosion in low-carbon concrete structures in UK. To
devise a solution to the same, the research group led by Prof Abir Al-Tabbaa at University of Cambridge is currently
focusing on advancing the capabilities of existing real-time concrete durability sensor developed by Concrefy for lowcarbon
concrete types and the exposure and damage conditions of UK. As a part of the PhD studentship, I propose to
divide the entire project into three phases of execution which aim to address the (i) study, (ii) advancement, and (iii)
installation of the real-time concrete durability sensor in low-carbon concrete structures in UK. This requires a detailed
study of the road structures, low-carbon concrete types, and exposure and damage conditions of the UK highways.
Further, based on the preliminary study, I propose to modify the models used by the sensor to detect concrete damage
and then supplement it with other relevant sensors to increase the robustness of the data. Additionally, to incorporate the
changing climate conditions and dynamically update the adjusted models, I propose using machine learning algorithms
that can further help in the early detection of concrete damage. This research proposal thus proposes the solutions and
outlines the methodology to achieve the above-mentioned objectives.