Non-contact NDT of Concrete Structures Using Air Coupled Sensors

Zhu, Jinying

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/5320 Copy

Description

Title

Non-contact NDT of Concrete Structures Using Air Coupled Sensors

Author(s)

Zhu, Jinying

Contributor(s)

Popovics, John S.

Issue Date

2008-05

Keyword(s)

• air-coupled sensing
• concrete
• imaging
• impact-echo
• Lamb's problem

Abstract

Elastic wave-based non-destructive test (NDT) methods are effective for detecting flaws in concrete structures. With the recent developments in computing hardware and software, imaging techniques have become very popular in NDT applications. However the application of elastic wave-based imaging methods for concrete structures is severely limited by the physical coupling between sensors and concrete surface, which reduces testing efficiency. In this report, the air-coupled sensing technique is proposed as a solution to improve the efficiency of elastic wave-based test methods for concrete structures. Theoretical analyses are first conducted to study the propagation of leaky Rayleigh waves in fluid-solid half spaces. Closed-form solutions of the Green’s function are derived for pressure and displacement in both the fluid and solid. This analysis provides theoretical background necessary for practical air-coupled sensing of leaky Rayleigh waves in concrete. The theory is also extended to underwater NDT applications. Two applications of air-coupled sensing are considered. One is air-coupled leaky surface wave sensing in concrete. A laboratory study and field tests demonstrate that air-coupled sensors are very effective for sensing leaky surface waves in concrete. The sensitivity and accuracy of air-coupled sensors are comparable to contact sensors. Aircoupled sensors are suitable replacement for contact sensors in SASW and MASW tests and moreover help improve test efficiency. In addition, the contact-less nature of aircoupled sensing enables the study of the effect of defects on wave attenuation. The experimental results show leaky Rayleigh waves are sensitive to the existence of cracks in concrete when waves propagate across cracks; the crack positions are clearly located in a 2-D scanning test image. The second application is air-coupled impact-echo. Two reinforced concrete slabs containing different types of defects were inspected using an air-coupled impact test testing scheme. 2-D scanning impact-echo tests were conducted over the slab containing voids and delaminations. The 2-D scanning image clearly shows the location of embedded defects, and their depths are also determined. Air-coupled impact-echo is also applied to examine the grouting condition of embedded ducts. The poorly-grouted and ungrouted sections are identified within the metal duct.

Publisher

Newmark Structural Engineering Laboratory. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Series/Report Name or Number

Newmark Structural Engineering Laboratory Report Series 010

ISSN

1940-9826

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/5320

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Copyright held by the authors. All rights reserved.

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