Quantitative ultrasonic evaluation of concrete structures using one-sided access

Khazanovich, Lev; Hoegh, Kyle

doi:10.1063/1.4940453

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 21 publications

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“…This context is also a hotspot for ultrasonic nondestructive testing [10]. The Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT) is a mature industrial ultrasonic imaging method that has been widely used in the detection of internal defects of concrete structures such as bridge decks [11], concrete columns [12], pavement [13], tunnels [14], etc. As early as the 1950s, SAFT began to be successfully applied in the radar field [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A SAFT Method for the Detection of Void Defect inside a Ballastless Track Structure Using Ultrasonic Array Sensors

Zhu

Chen

et al. 2019

Sensors

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High-precision ultrasound imaging of void defects is critical for the performance and safety assessment of ballastless track structures. The sound propagation velocity of each layer in the ballastless track structure is quite different. However, the traditional concrete Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT) ultrasound imaging method is based on the assumption that the concrete has a single constant shear wave velocity. Thus, it is not a suitable method for the ultrasonic imaging of multilayer structures. In this paper, a Multilayer SAFT high-precision ultrasound imaging method is proposed. It is based on the ray-tracing technique and uses the Fermat principle to find the refraction point that minimizes the delay of the acoustic wave propagation path at the interface of the discrete layers. Then, the acoustic wave propagation path is segmented by the position of the refraction point, and the propagation delay of the ultrasonic wave is obtained segment by segment. Thus, the propagation delay of the ultrasonic wave is obtained one by one, so that the propagation delay of the ultrasonic wave in the multilayer structure can be accurately obtained. Finally, the focused image is obtained according to the SAFT imaging algorithm. The finite element simulation and experimental results show that the Multilayer SAFT imaging method can accurately track the propagation path of the ultrasonic wave in ballastless track structures, as well as accurately calculate the propagation delay of the ultrasonic wave and the lengths of void defects. The high accuracy of the Multilayer SAFT imaging represents a significant improvement compared to traditional SAFT imaging.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A SAFT Method for the Detection of Void Defect inside a Ballastless Track Structure Using Ultrasonic Array Sensors

Zhu

Chen

et al. 2019

Sensors

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FPGA: Field programmable gate array-based four-channel embedded system for ultrasonic imaging of under-water concrete structures

Jain

Patankar

2022

Review of Scientific Instruments

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Non-destructive testing is needed for the evaluation of quality and safety of concrete structures in the field of civil engineering. The imaging of concrete/reinforced cement concrete structures (RCC) is a challenging task due to the non-homogeneous properties of the concrete material. To address this challenge, a novel real-time, re-configurable, four-channel embedded system has been designed and developed to image the internal details of the concrete samples using the water immersion pulse-echo (PE) mode under automation, which needs access from one side of the structure. The system performs data acquisition (DAQ) of the amplified echo signals under the control of the computer via a universal serial bus interface. A graphical user interface (GUI) has been developed using C# in a Visual environment, for image acquisition and control of the DAQ parameters. The performance of the system has been evaluated by acquiring B-Scan images of three types of concrete test blocks having side drilled holes (SDHs) and simulated inclusions embedded in concrete blocks of M20 grade using a linear array of 92 kHz water immersion transducers operating in under-water PE mode. The acquired B-Scan images revealed the internal details of the concrete test blocks with sizing of the SDHs and inclusions. Therefore, the developed four-channel ultrasonic imaging system can visualize the internal details of under-water concrete structures, such as bridges and sea links, with the help of corresponding 2-D cross-sectional images, acquired using the developed system.

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Estimation of Wave Velocity for Ultrasonic Imaging of Concrete Structures Based on Dispersion Analysis

Lin

Shams

Choi

et al. 2020

Journal of Testing and Evaluation

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Wave velocity is the most critical parameter used by the synthetic aperture focusing technique for the ultrasonic imaging of concrete structures. However, it has been challenging to estimate wave velocity with the traditional time-domain method that requires the picking of direct waves. The dispersion trend of direct waves is theoretically a horizontal line with frequency as the x-axis and phase velocity as the y-axis, and the horizontal line is due to the nondispersive phenomenon of direct waves in an elastic, homogeneous material. To overcome the challenge of picking direct waves in the time domain, this study proposes a frequency-domain method to first obtain the dispersion trend of direct waves based on the nondispersive phenomenon and then estimate the shear-wave velocity from the average phase velocity of the nondispersive trend in the frequency domain. This frequency-domain method was verified with the numerical and experimental ultrasonic data from concrete specimens with embedded delamination. A comparison of the results obtained using the two methods indicates that the frequency-domain method can significantly improve the accuracy of estimating the shear-wave velocity and eventually improve the accuracy of ultrasonic imaging.

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Quantitative ultrasonic evaluation of concrete structures using one-sided access

Cited by 3 publications

References 21 publications

A SAFT Method for the Detection of Void Defect inside a Ballastless Track Structure Using Ultrasonic Array Sensors

A SAFT Method for the Detection of Void Defect inside a Ballastless Track Structure Using Ultrasonic Array Sensors

FPGA: Field programmable gate array-based four-channel embedded system for ultrasonic imaging of under-water concrete structures

Estimation of Wave Velocity for Ultrasonic Imaging of Concrete Structures Based on Dispersion Analysis

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