Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring (2021) 11:411–420

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-020-00457-6

ORIGINAL PAPER

Monitoring of corrosion‑induced damage to bolted joints using

an active sensing method with piezoceramic transducers
Erjiang Cui1 · Chunyuan Zuo2 · Muning Fan3 · Shaofei Jiang1

Received: 10 May 2020 / Revised: 2 December 2020 / Accepted: 6 December 2020 / Published online: 4 January 2021
© Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature 2021

Abstract
Ensuring adequate tightening of bolted joints is necessary since they are more prone to corrosion in a harsh environment under
insufficient preload. To this end, this paper first conducted an accelerated electrochemical corrosion experiment to expedite
the corrosion process of bolted connections over different periods. The results show that as the corrosion time is extended, the
overall dimensions of the bolt system remarkably decrease. Moreover, according to the mass loss of the bolted joints in 3.5%
NaCl solution, the rate of corrosion continuously changes. Then, a real-time monitoring approach based on active sensing
was utilized to evaluate the corrosion conditions of bolted joints. The stress wave generated by one piezoceramic transducer
propagates through the bolted joints and is captured via another transducer that acts as a sensor. The energy corresponding
to the stress wave signal declines during the corrosion process, and the normalized wavelet packet energy index is used to
evaluate the degree of damage to the bolted joints. Overall, the health status of the bolted joints is significantly affected by
the corrosion time. The proposed active sensing method can accurately monitor the corrosion process of bolted joints. The
experimental results verify the feasibility and practicality of the real-time, piezoceramic transducer-enabled method for
monitoring the structural health of corroded bolted joints.

Keywords Bolted joint · Piezoceramic transducers · Accelerated corrosion · Active sensing method · Corrosion monitoring

1 Introduction are often made of steel, are widely used in many engineering
fields [11–13], especially in steel infrastructure [14, 15]. A
Civil infrastructure is subject to a variety of damaging fac- large number of structures with connection plates have been
tors, such as corrosion [1, 2], vibration [3, 4], impact [5, 6], scrapped because of bolted joint failure, and redeployment
and seismic excitation [7], among which corrosion is the or replacement of the bolts is very costly. Thus, to ensure
most common factor negatively influencing the health of the safety and reliability of components and structures, the
steel components and structures [8–10]. Bolted joints, which integrity of bolted joints should be monitored. Various prob-
lems are associated with the integrity of bolted joints, and
corrosion is a major cause of bolt failure, which may lead
* Chunyuan Zuo to catastrophic results if not detected in time [16, 17]. The
chunyuan‑0227@163.com initial damage caused by the corrosion of bolted joints is a
* Shaofei Jiang reduction in the dimensions of the bolts, so the integrity of
cejsf@fzu.edu.cn the bolted joints weakens as the corrosion time increases.
Erjiang Cui Therefore, monitoring the preload loss and corrosion of
erjcui@163.com bolted joints is essential.
Muning Fan Considerable research efforts, such as evaluating the vari-
mum777@tamu.edu ation in the failure model, the ultimate bearing capacity, and
1 the condition of the connection plates, have been devoted
College of Civil Engineering, Fuzhou University,
Fuzhou 350108, China to the problems caused by the corrosion of bolted joints.
2 A number of approaches [18–20], including accelerated
Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huaian 223003, China
electrochemical corrosion, have been employed to simulate
3
College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, the damage condition of bolted joints. Prior research has
College Station, TX 77843, USA

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demonstrated that the load capacity of bolted joints signifi-
cantly decreases when corrosion substantially progresses
[16, 21]. However, the bolts are more susceptible to cor-
rosion than the connection plates. Therefore, in this work,
marble connection plates were used instead of steel plates to
study the corrosion effect solely on bolts. Another approach
is to artificially damage the bolts with handheld cutting
tools. Ahn et al. [22, 23] studied the loss of the clamping
force caused by sectional damage to bolt heads and nuts due
to corrosion. With an increase in sectional damage, both
bolt heads and nuts experienced a greater reduction in the
clamping force. Due to sectional damage, the condition of
the bolted joints may be changed. In previous studies, either
accelerated electrochemical corrosion or artificial damage
was limitedly focused on sectional damage, so the effects of
common corrosion of bolt heads and nuts were overlooked.
Both the residual axial force and corrosion morphology
can be utilized to examine the characteristics of damage to
bolted joints. The shape of corroded bolts was classified
under four categories by Masayuki et al. [24]. Moreover,
the results of finite element analysis indicated that the resid-
ual axial force could be evaluated by using the root-mean-
square (RMS) value of the reduction in the thickness of the
bolt near the washer. A reduction in the axial force and a
variation in the corrosion morphology are more common
in corroded bolted joints. Hence, the flatness and smooth-
ness of the interface between bolts and plates worsen with
increasing corrosion duration. Meanwhile, the reduction in
the dimensions of the bolt system has a significant effect on
the residual axial force, which is positively correlated with
the surface flatness of the plates [17, 24]. Therefore, the rate
of corrosion of the bolted joints is adopted to evaluate the
extent of corrosion for various corrosion periods in a natural
environment.
Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducers have been
widely utilized to monitor the health status of structures
[25–28] and evaluate the degree of damage to struc-
tures [29–32] because of their advantages, including the
capacity for actuation and sensing, low cost, and fast
response [33–36]. Structural health monitoring (SHM)
methods employing PZT transducers include active sens-
ing [37–40], the electromechanical impedance method
[41–43], and other techniques [44–50]. In particular, using
ultrasonic waves as an effective active sensing method for
monitoring corrosion and evaluating mechanical properties
[51–57] is attracting increasing attention. This approach
can detect changes in the properties of metallic plates,
such as the stress–strain behavior, mass loss, and tensile
strength, via ultrasonic waves at different stages of corro-
sion [58–60]. As mentioned earlier, very little research has
been performed on real-time monitoring of the corrosion
of bolted connections. Therefore, we used the mass loss to
examine the degree of corrosion in bolted joints. However,
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Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring (2021) 11:411–420
although the measurement of mass loss is possible on a lab
scale, it is almost impossible in real applications. Thus, we
compared the mass loss, as an indicator of the degree of
corrosion, with the proposed PZT-enabled active sensing
method. The cumulative damage index is more effective
in identifying corrosion damage [61].
In this method, PZT patches are conveniently bonded
to the outer surfaces of existing bolted connections. One
PZT generates an ultrasonic wave that propagates through
the bolted joints, and accordingly, another PZT receives
the stress wave. The basic principle of this approach lies
in the energy loss during stress wave diffusion and dissi-
pation. Corrosion is a common condition in bolted joints,
and real-time monitoring of the corrosion of bolted joints
using PZT transducers has rarely been reported. There-
fore, in this paper, an active sensing approach using PZT
transducers was developed to monitor the status of bolted
joints under corrosion. To provide additional insight into
the corrosion of bolted joints, the rate of corrosion was
also assessed through the mass loss of the bolted system.
The main novelty of this research lies in the realization
of real-time monitoring of the corrosion of bolted joints
using PZT transducers.
To date, the majority of works have focused on the
interface between two connection plates, and the effect of
the corrosion of bolts on the residual axial force has not
received adequate attention [24, 62]. In view of these real
conditions, this survey focuses on the performance of cor-
roded bolted joints and presents an active sensing method
suitable for real-time monitoring of the corrosion of bolted
joints. To simulate corroded bolt connections, following
standard ASTM B895, three specimens were immersed in
a 3.5% NaCl solution for different 0.5 h periods to acceler-
ate the corrosion process. Moreover, the rate of corrosion
was assessed using the mass loss of the bolt system. Since
the volume of the bolted joint decreases with corrosion,
an active sensing approach was developed to detect the
attenuation of the signal in the corroded part of the con-
nection. The signals in the uncorroded part denoting the
healthy state of the bolted joint were used as the baseline.
The more severe the corrosion damage to the bolt is, the
weaker the signal received by the sensor. By using wavelet
packet-based analysis, previous research has shown that
the energy level is sensitive to various structural changes
[63, 64] and damage [65–68]. Thus, a cumulative damage
index was calculated based on the wavelet packet coef-
ficients. The experimental results of detecting corroded
bolted joints show that the morphology of the bolts is
strongly associated with the rate of corrosion, and the
connection condition of the bolted joints is remarkably
affected by the corrosion period. Moreover, the active
sensing approach is applicable to real-time monitoring of
the corrosion of bolted joints.
Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring (2021) 11:411–420
2 Principles and application
of the PZT‑based monitoring method
2.1 Active sensing method
The residual axial force, which indicates the condition of
the bolted joint, is difficult to measure since the shapes
of the bolts and washers dramatically change after cor-
rosion. By increasing the corrosion duration, much more
axial force is lost, and the contact area between the bolts
and the plates increasingly diminishes. In the initial stage,
the bolted joints have no corrosion, so the stress waves
propagating through the connection plates have no energy
loss. During the corrosion stage, with the gradual decrease
in the contact area, the gap between the two connection
plates widens. As a result, the residual axial force continu-
ously declines.
Figure 1 illustrates the principle of the active sensing
approach in evaluating the condition of the bolted joints.
Although the active sensing approach has been previ-
ously used for monitoring bolt preload [69, 70], utilizing
this method to monitor the corrosion of bolt connections
has not been reported to the best of the authors’ knowl-
edge. In the proposed active sensing approach, the actua-
tor installed on the bottom plate generates a stress wave
propagating across the bolted joint. Accordingly, the sen-
sor bonded to the upper plate is used to detect the wave
response. For a larger connection area, a higher axial force
can be maintained, so the sensor detects stress waves with
a higher energy level. In contrast, for a smaller connection
area, a lower axial force can be maintained, so the sensor
detects stress waves with a much lower energy level. The
volume of the washer dramatically decreases in the initial
Fig. 1  Principle of the active sensing method in evaluating the condi-
tion of bolted joints: a initial stage; b corrosion stage
413
corrosion stage, and thus, the sensor signal significantly
declines. After that, the washer, nut, and bolt are corroded
simultaneously.
2.2 Energy analysis of the wavelet packet
In the wavelet packet-based analysis, the piezoceramic sen-
sor detects the stress wave, and signal X can be decomposed
into 2n frequency bands by n-level wavelet packet decom-
position. Then, Xj can be expressed by:
[ ]
Xj = Xj1 , Xj2 , … , Xjm (1)
where m is the number of sampled data points and j
( j = 1 … 2n) represents the frequency band. In addition, the
total energy of the decomposed signal (Ej ) can be defined as:
|| ||2 2
Ej = ||Xj || = Xj,1 2
+ Xj,2 2
+ … + Xj,m (2)
|| ||
where j represents the data measured at different times. The
total signal energy (E) at time j can be calculated by the
summation of the decomposed signal energies:
2n
∑
E= Ej . (3)
j=1
2.3 Application of the proposed monitoring
method
To simulate the natural corrosion of existing structures,
a method of accelerated electrochemical corrosion was
employed in this work. For a practical project, exactly quan-
tifying the relationship between the loss of the preload and
the extent of corrosion in bolted joint systems is imperative.
More specifically, the bolted joints in the existing structures
were first monitored by PZT sensors with the active sensing
approach, and then, the signals propagating in the bolted
joint system were collected during each different corrosion
period. Subsequently, by comparing the attenuation extent
of the signal during each service period, a warning signal
could be transmitted to avoid sudden structural failure. The
following five steps for the purpose of depicting demonstrate
the procedure for the application of the proposed method:
• Step 1 Binding the PZT sensors to the bolt connection
plate of the existing structures.
• Step 2 Monitoring the initial status of the bolted joint
system by using PZT sensors.
• Step 3 Obtaining the variation in the signals by compar-
ing the initial status of the bolted joint system with its
corroded status.
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Fig. 2  Bolted joint system
Table 1  Details of the materials for the bolt system
Property Size
Bolt 5/16″ × 1–1/2″
Washer 5/16″
Nut 1/4′
• Step 4 Calculating the wavelet packet energy indices to
measure the corrosion extent of the bolted joint system
in each corrosion period.
• Step 5 Taking further measures (such as redeployment or
replacement) for the bolt joints according to the evalua-
tion results.
3 Experimental setup and procedures
The bolted joints are composed of a fully threaded bolt
and two connection plates, and the bolt system includes a
bolt, a washer, and a nut, as depicted in Fig. 2. To ensure
that corrosion only occurs in the bolt system, the con-
nection plate is made of marble; each marble plate has
dimensions of 100 × 50 × 12 mm. The bolts, washers, and
nuts are made of steel, and the details of the materials of
Fig. 3  Accelerated electrochemical corrosion of a bolted joint: a process; b setup
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Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring (2021) 11:411–420
the bolted joints are presented in Table 1. In the experi-
ments, three specimens were used for the corrosion tests.
According to the standard, a torque of 30 N·m was applied
to each of the bolted joints. During the experiment, the
PZT transceivers were consistently attached to the surface
of the marble plates by 502 glue, and AB epoxy resin was
used to protect them from corrosion by water.
Figure 3 displays the apparatus utilized in this work
to accelerate the electrochemical corrosion of the bolted
joints. The bolt and aluminum plate were connected to
the anode and cathode of an external DC power supply
Materials
(HY3005F-3, Dr. Meter, America), respectively. Addi-
tionally, the working current was set at a constant value
Steel of 5 A to ensure a stable corrosion process of the bolted
Steel joints, and a 3.5% NaCl solution was used as the electro-
Steel lytic solution. The corrosion of a bolted joint is caused
by the chemical reaction of iron ions, as expressed in the
following equations:
Fe + 2Cl− → Fe2+ + 2Cl− + 2e− (4)
O2 + H2 O + 2e− → 2OH− (5)
2H− + 2e− → H2 (6)
4Fe(OH)2 + O2 + H2 O → 4Fe(OH)3 (7)
Fe(OH)3 → Fe2 O3 ⋅ H2 O (8)
The chloride ions continuously react with ferrum (Fe)
to form iron ions and electrons, as described in Eq. 4. In
the electrolysis process, the oxygen in water is transformed
into hydroxide ions, releasing hydrogen gas. Then, iron
Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring (2021) 11:411–420 415

Table 3  Properties of the PZT transducers

Physical parameter Value

Density, ρ (kg/m3) 7500

Young’s modulus, Y ­ E (N/m2) 6.67 × 1010
Piezoelectric strain coefficients (10–10 C/N) 1.75/4.00/5.90
Dimensions ­(mm3) 10 × 4 × 1 (± 0.1)

Fig. 4  Experimental setup

Table 2  Sampling frequency and parameters of the excitation signal

Parameter Value

Sampling rate (MS/s) 2

Frequency for sweep range (kHz) 1–200
Sweep duration (s) 1

ions combine with hydroxide ions and thus form ferrous

oxide.
In the corrosion process, only the bolt system had a mass
loss. Hence, we defined the rate of corrosion as the mass
difference of the bolt system between two adjacent corro-
sion stages to evaluate the degree of corrosion of the bolts.
After every stage of the corrosion process, the specimen was
cleaned with a tissue and left in the lab for 30 min. Then, the
specimen was weighed by an electronic scale with a preci-
sion of 0.01 g. The rate of corrosion can be expressed by:
Fig. 5  Corrosion process of a bolted joint
Wt−1 −Wt
𝜌= Wt−1
× 100%# (9)
bound was chosen as 1 kHz, which is a relatively low value.
where 𝜌(%) represents the rate of corrosion of the sample at Notably, this frequency range was verified to be effective
time t , Wt (g) is the mass of the sample at time t , and Wt−1 (g) through the experimental studies in this research.
denotes the mass of the sample at time t − 1.
The experimental setup was illustrated in Fig. 4. An NI-
USB 6361 data acquisition board was used to generate the
excitation signal and record the received signal. A sweep 4 Results and discussion
sine wave with a frequency band of 1–200 kHz and a sweep
duration of 1 s was used as the excitation signal. Before 4.1 Accelerated corrosion process
being transmitted to the PZT actuator, the generated sweep
sine waveform was amplified 50 times via a power amplifier. A number of reviews [24, 70] have described the effect of
Additionally, the sampling frequency of the data acquisition reductions in the thickness of the bolt head and nut and
system was 2 MS/s. The sampling frequency and the param- attempted to improve the accuracy of the measurement of
eters of the sweep sine signal are summarized in Table 2, the residual axial force with reductions in the thickness of
and the properties of the PZT transducers are presented in both the nut and bolt head. The shape of the corroded bolt is
Table 3. Since this experiment involved steel, marble, and also considered an additional factor. In the corrosion experi-
tightened bolted connections, the upper bound of the sweep ment, the contact area between the bolt and the connection
frequency was set at 200 kHz based on previous research decreases due to corrosion. Thus, the residual axial force
[25, 29, 31, 43, 46]. Moreover, taking the loosening of the continuously declines, which leads to separation of the con-
bolted connection due to corrosion into account, the lower nection plates. Furthermore, a smaller volume of the bolt

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416
system indicates a lower axial force that it can bear when the
initial preload is set up. The corrosion results of the bolted
joints are illustrated in Fig. 5.
By increasing the corrosion duration, the volume of the
bolt system constantly decreases, as shown in Fig. 5. Since
the washer has a larger surface area than the bolt and the nut,
the washer is the first to be corroded. The corrosion process
of the bolted joints can be divided into three stages:
Stage I the surface of the bolt begins to smooth, and the
galvanized layer starts separating; at the same time, the
dimensions of the washer are rapidly reduced in 1 h.
Stage II the morphology of the bolt appears to have a
tapered contour, and the diameter of the washer is almost
similar to that of the nut at a corrosion duration of 1.5 h.
Afterward, the volume of the bolt system further decreases
until the end of a 2-h periods.
Stage III the connection plates separate from each other
since the nut and the washer are completely removed due to
severe corrosion.
Envelope curves are used to present the trend in the rate
of corrosion in the different corrosion stages (Fig. 6). A sig-
nificant increase in the rate of corrosion can be observed in
Stage I, and it reaches a peak in the range of 7–9% in 1 h,
which is attributed to the fact that the bolt has a larger con-
tact area with the sodium chloride solution. After that, the
rate of corrosion gradually declines. Moreover, the envelope
curves at a corrosion time of 1–2 h are steeper than those at
a corrosion time of 2–3 h. Therefore, the trend in the rate of
corrosion can also be divided into three stages as the dimen-
sions of the bolt system decrease due to corrosion; a pos-
sible explanation for this trend is that the rate of corrosion is
Fig. 6  Rate of corrosion at different times
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Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring (2021) 11:411–420
proportional to the surface area of the bolt system exposed
to the corrosive medium.
4.2 Signal analysis based on wavelet packet
analysis
To observe the condition of the connection plates, the
response signals of bolted joint 1 at different corrosion times
are superimposed in the time domain, as plotted in Fig. 7.
Each curve represents a 1-s period of the sweep sine wave
signal at an interval of half an hour. The signal received by
the sensors at zero hours is utilized as the baseline, which
represents the healthy state of the bolted joint. The ampli-
tude of the signal decreases gradually with increasing cor-
rosion time, which is chiefly due to the corrosion of the bolt
system. Meanwhile, this result agrees with the continuous
decrease in the axial force between the connection plates
obtained from the ultrasonic monitoring results during the
accelerated corrosion test by Shah et al. [16]. Furthermore,
notably, the decreasing trend of the active sensing signal is
similar to the trend of the change in the shape of the bolt.
As a result, we can conclude that the active sensing signal
can accurately reflect the corrosion process of bolted joints.
To fully reveal the energy loss of three bolted joints, the
wavelet packet energy index is normalized as delineated
in Fig. 8. This is a widely used approach to quantitatively
evaluate the degree of damage to structures [71, 72], which
is also applicable to the corrosion process of bolted joints.
To this end, the signal energy is calculated by Eq. 2. As
shown in Fig. 8, the calculated index dramatically declines
at a corrosion time of 0.5 h when the shape of the bolt also
changes similarly. Specifically, at a corrosion time of 0.5 h,
the energy index decreases by 20–40%, and at a corrosion
time of 1 h, the energy index declines by 40–55%. These
findings clearly demonstrate that the proposed method is
sensitive to the initial corrosion. Subsequently, the energy
index gradually decreases during the rest of the corrosion
process, and the connection plates separate from each other
after a corrosion time of 3 h due to the severe corrosion of
the bolted joint. The results confirm that the active sensing
approach is a reliable method for monitoring the degree of
damage to corroded bolted joints.
5 Conclusions
On the one hand, bolted joints are commonly used in struc-
tures, and corrosion of bolted joints will lead to a catastro-
phe if not detected in time. On the other hand, the extent
of damage to corroded bolts is difficult to monitor directly.
In this paper, an active sensing approach was proposed to
monitor the corrosion process of bolted joints. To this end,
an experimental study was carried out to demonstrate the
Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring (2021) 11:411–420 417

Fig. 7  Signals of bolted joint

1 at different corrosion times
superimposed in the time
domain: a all the signals; b 0 h;
c 0.5 h; d 1 h; e 1.5 h; f 2 h; g
2.5 h; h 3 h

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418
Fig. 8  Normalization of the wavelet packet energy index during the
corrosion process
effectiveness of the proposed method. By increasing the cor-
rosion duration, the overall dimensions of the bolt system
remarkably decrease, and the trend is similar to the change
in the rate of corrosion. Simultaneously, the wavelet packet
energy index indicates that the condition of the connection
plates dramatically differs at different corrosion times. Fur-
ther, the experimental investigations demonstrate that the
active sensing approach can be an effective real-time moni-
toring method for quantitatively detecting the extent of cor-
rosion damage and easily evaluating the corrosion process
of bolted joints. The corrosion damage to a bolted joint is
caused by changes in the mass, stiffness, and preload of the
entire bolted joint; the changes in these factors occur simul-
taneously in the corrosion process. The overall corrosion
damage to the entire bolted joint is also detected by using the
proposed method. In particular, benefiting from the charac-
teristics of efficiency, cost effectiveness, and precision, the
proposed approach can be used in real-time monitoring of
the residual axial force of connection plates with corroded
bolted joints in steel structures. However, the changes in or
the damage caused by each factor cannot be differentiated
by means of the proposed method. Thus, we will further our
research so as to develop an advanced method for differen-
tiating the damage caused by each influencing factor in the
future. In addition, monitoring of the corrosion damage to
multiple bolts will be considered. Our future work will also
involve field implementation.
Acknowledgements The study was funded by the National Thir-
teenth Five-Year Key Research Projects of China (Grant No.
2016YFC0700706), Fujian Science and Technology Planning Project
(Grant No. 2017Y0412), and Jiangsu Provincial Basic Research Pro-
gram (Natural Science Fund) with Grant No. BK20170464.
123
Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring (2021) 11:411–420
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflicts of interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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