Versatile wireless sacrificial transducers for electronic structural surveillance sensors

The goal of this work is to develop novel transducers for use with our low-cost unpowered wireless Electronic Structural Surveillance (ESS) sensors aimed at monitoring corrosion of the steel reinforcement in concrete. A new transduction scheme is presented which incorporates a fully exposed sacrificial transducer element capable of non-contact interaction with the sensor circuitry. This wire-free interaction of the fully exposed, sacrificial transduction layer is the key innovation avoiding the need to breach the hermetic seal that protects the sensing circuit and yet maintain direct monitoring of corrosion. This design also allows the transducer to make use of a variety of materials and morphologies. Here we present our new design, experimentally demonstrate the behavior of our prototype sensor, and develop a new paradigm for transduction in passive wireless sensors.