Piezoelectric Materials in Civil Engineering Applications: A Review

This review presents the important applications of piezoelectricmaterials in civil engineering in recent years. Studies on the developmentof smart construction structures have been carried out by using materialssuch as piezoelectric materials around the world. Piezoelectric materialshave attracted attention in many civil engineering applications, asa result of their capability of generating electrical power when subjectedto a mechanical stress, or of generating mechanical stress when subjectedto an electric field. In civil engineering applications, piezoelectricmaterials are used in energy harvesting not only in superstructuresbut also in substructures, control strategies, the creation of compositematerials with cement mortar, and structural health monitoring systems.With this perspective, the civil engineering applications of the piezoelectricmaterials were reviewed and discussed, especially for their generalproperties and effectiveness. At the end, suggestions were made forfuture studies using piezoelectric materials.