Staff profile

Yihanzhang is a PhD student at the Department of Engineering, Durham University. He was awarded a Master of Engineering degree from Durham University in 2019 and was the recipient of the Best MSc Civil Engineering Project Awards 2019. His research interests include the design of building structures, project design and the application of nondestructive testing techniques.

Research Project

There has been an increased adoption of structural health monitoring systems around the world in recent times, particularly by builders, that are focused on non-destructive evaluations (also referred to as non-destructive testing). Structural health monitoring has been studied extensively over the past 30 years using different sensors to monitor structure performance and behavior. Many civil structures are equipped with SHM systems, including bridges, buildings, wind turbines, offshore structures, nuclear power plants, dams, tunnels, etc. The reinforcement defect inside the reinforced concrete structure will damage the structural performance, affect its durability and safety, and could even lead to disastrous accident. Therefore, the effective detection of defects in reinforced concrete structures is the key to ensure the safety of the structure. The main aim of this project is therefore to design a novel structural health monitoring technique for concrete rebar defect detection.