The study of ultrasonic pulse velocity on plain and reinforced damaged concrete

Abstract

Abstract. An ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) test is often applied to determine the quality of concrete structures. It is well known that there are several factors which can influence the reading of ultrasonic velocity in concrete. One of the factors is the presence of steel reinforcement. Therefore, this paper is intended to evaluate the ultrasonic pulse velocity propagation either in plain or reinforced damaged concrete. A study on sound concrete is also provided as a comparison. Three mixes of concrete were provided, with 25 MPa, 35 MPa, and 45 MPa target compressive strengths. The specimens were 200x200x200 mm cube concrete specimens and 100x150x1100 mm reinforced concrete beam specimens. Each specimen was examined for velocity readings in sound and damaged concrete (25% and 50% of maximum load). In all concrete grades of both plain and reinforced concrete, the ultrasonic velocity decreases as the damage level increases. During intact conditions, the velocity of reinforced concrete is around 4.5% higher than that of plain concrete. However, damaged reinforced concrete has a lower velocity than plain damaged concrete. Furthermore, a new equation for predicting ultrasonic pulse velocity in reinforced concrete is proposed.

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“…Figure 5 shows the results obtained in UPV testing. There is a direct correlation between UPV and CS meaning that UPV rises as CS increases (Kencanawati, Akmaluddin et al 2018). UPV results exhibit a consistent pattern mirroring the trends seen in the CS results providing further con rmation of the direct correlation between UPV and CS.…”