A Method for Evaluating Failure in Reinforced Concrete under Bending Based on the Response of Electrical Parameters to an Impact Action

The regularities of changes in the properties of the electrical response of reinforced concrete to an impact action in a four-point bending flexural test and the influence of the rebar cage configuration on the processes of failure in reinforced beams and on electrical response parameters have been studied. Criteria have been proposed for determining the stages of failure in reinforced concrete beams, based on electrical response parameters. The nucleation and growth of macrocracks in the tensile zones of reinforced beams is accompanied by a drop in the maximum cross-correlation coefficient of signal spectra at the current and previous loading levels to 0.45–0.6. An increase in the energy attenuation coefficient of electrical responses in a reinforced beam by 1.5–2.5 times can serve as a precursor to its impending catastrophic breakdown.