Assessing the Effect of Damage and Steel Fiber Content on the Self-Sensing Ability of Coal Gangue-Cemented Composite by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS)

Steel fibers (SFs) can form stable conductive networks in coal gangue-cemented composites (CGCCs), endowing CGCCs with excellent mechanical, electrical and self-sensing properties. Meanwhile, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) provides a potential approach to evaluate the damage situation of SF-reinforced CGCC. In this paper, EIS responses of CGCCs with different SF content and damage levels were determined. An equivalent circuit was then explored, and the effect of the SF content and damage levels on its parameters was investigated. It was observed that CGCC with 0.8% SFs yielded the best result in terms of mechanical and self-sensing ability. In addition, damage such as microcracks primarily affects the conductive pathways induced by pores rather than those induced by SFs. More importantly, as a non-destructive method, the EIS technique is practical and promising for monitoring damage conditions of SF-reinforced CGCC in underground engineering.