Novel concrete-temperature monitoring method by using embedded passive wireless sensor

Abstract

This paper presents a novel concrete-temperature monitoring method using an embedded passive wireless sensor. After introducing the control method of concrete-temperature monitoring, this work proposes an embedded passive wireless sensor based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. It includes a microstrip antenna specially designed for embedded monitoring due to its round plane architecture. The proposed wireless sensor consists of three parts: an energy management section, a digital section and an RFID section. Laboratory experimentation and on-site testing demonstrate that, despite the high losses of concrete, the proposed sensor tag provides reliable communication performance in passive mode. The maximum reader–tag communication distance is 7 m at 915 MHz, and the measured results are highly consistent with the results measured by thermocouple. To the knowledge of the authors, this work is the first to use the RFID sensor tag to measure concrete temperature.