Towards an application of muon scattering tomography as a technique for detecting rebars in concrete

Dobrowolska, Magdalena; Velthuis, J. J.; Kopp, A. K.; Perry, Marcus; Pearson, P. K.

doi:10.1088/1361-665x/ab7a3f

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…It was successfully used to detect objects with a high atomic number (high-Z objects) in cargo containers [15,32], imaging of nuclear waste [12], as well as for discrimination of high-Z materials in concrete-filled containers [13] and detection of voids in concrete filled drums [11]. It was also demonstrated that bars with a diameter of 33.7 ± 7.3 mm at 50 cm depth can be located using that approach [21].…”

Section: Bristol Discriminator Algorithmmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development of muon scattering tomography for a detection of reinforcement in concrete

Dobrowolska¹,

Velthuis²,

Kopp³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Inspection of ageing, reinforced concrete structures is a world-wide challenge. Existing non-destructive evaluation techniques in civil and structural engineering have limited penetration depth and don't allow to precisely ascertain the configuration of reinforcement within large concrete objects. The big challenge for critical infrastructure (bridges, dams, dry docks, nuclear bioshields etc.) is understanding the internal condition of the concrete and steel, not just the location of the reinforcement. In most new constructions the location should be known and recorded in the asbuilt drawings, where these might not exist due to poor record keeping for older structures.Muon scattering tomography is a non-destructive and non-invasive technique which shows great promise for high-depth 3D concrete imaging. Previously, we have demonstrated that individual bars with a diameter of 33.7 ± 7.3 mm at 50 cm depth can be located using muon scattering tomography. Here we present an improved method that exploits the periodicity of bar structures. With this new method, reinforcement with bars down to 6 mm thickness can be detected and imaged.

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Section: Bristol Discriminator Algorithmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previously, we published a novel approach exploiting muon scattering tomography (MST) to detect the presence and location of reinforcement bars [21]. This work has shown that a 100 cm long, singular bar with a diameter of 33.7 ± 7.3 mm can be detected using three weeks of data taking at sea level.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of muon scattering tomography for a detection of reinforcement in concrete

Dobrowolska¹,

Velthuis²,

Kopp³

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…Civil engineering, especially bridge inspection, was also highlighted as a key future application in an overview article by one of the authors in 2019 [9]. The same idea was developed by another research group and successfully explored by simulations [19]. Other similar applications reported have been limited to simulations or conceptual designs due to the lack of suitable detectors [20,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The idea of using muon tomography as a tool for the inspection of concrete structures including a concept for developing a suitable detecting system was submitted to the EC research program Horizon 2020 in early 2019 by the authors. The same idea was developed by another research group and successfully explored by simulations [16]. So far, all other similar applications reported have been limited to simulations or conceptual designs due to the lack of suitable detectors [17], [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Muon Tomography of the Interior of a Reinforced Concrete Block: First Experimental Proof of Concept

et al. 2021

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Quality assurance and condition assessment of concrete structures is an important topic world-wide due to the aging infrastructure and increasing traffic demands. Common topics include, but are not limited to, localisation of rebar or tendon ducts, geometrical irregularities, cracks, voids, honeycombing or other flaws. Non-destructive techniques such as ultrasound or radar have found regular, successful practical application but sometimes suffer from limited resolution and accuracy, imaging artefacts or restrictions in detecting certain features. Until the 1980s X-ray transmission was used in case of special demands and showed a much better resolution than other NDT techniques. However, due to safety concerns and cost issues, this method is almost never used anymore. Muon tomography has received much attention recently. Novel detectors for cosmic muons and tomographic imaging algorithms have opened up new fields of application, such as the investigation of freight containers. Muon imaging also has the potential to fill some of the gaps currently existing in concrete NDT. As a first step towards practical use and as a proof of concept we used an existing system to image the interior of a reference reinforced 600 kg concrete block. Even with a yet not optimized setup for this kind of investigation, the muon imaging results are at least of similar quality compared to ultrasonic and radar imaging, potentially even better. The data acquisition takes more time and signals contain more noise, but the images allowed to detect the same important features that are visible in conventional high energy X-ray tomography. In our experiment, we have shown that muon imaging has potential for concrete inspection. The next steps include the development of mobile detectors and optimising acquisition and imaging parameters.

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“…Two recently papers reported that ART can detect reinforcement rebars in concrete. The first study is based on Monte Carlo simulations [21] and the second on experimental tests [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric ray tomography for low-Z materials: implementing new methods on a proof-of-concept tomograph

Anbarjafari¹,

Anier²,

Avots³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Cosmic rays interacting with the atmosphere result in a flux of secondary particles including muons and electrons. Atmospheric ray tomography (ART) uses the muons and electrons for detecting objects and their composition. This paper presents new methods and a proof-of-concept tomography system developed for the ART of low-Z materials. We introduce the Particle Track Filtering (PTF) and Multi-Modality Tomographic Reconstruction (MMTR) methods. Based on Geant4 models we optimized the tomography system, the parameters of PTF and MMTR. Based on plastic scintillating fiber arrays we achieved the spatial resolution 120 µm and 1 mrad angular resolution in the track reconstruction. We developed a novel edge detection method to separate the logical volumes of scanned object. We show its effectiveness on single (e.g. water, aluminum) and double material (e.g. explosive RDX in flesh) objects. The tabletop tomograph we built showed excellent agreement between simulations and measurements. We are able to increase the discriminating power of ART on low-Z materials significantly. This work opens up new routes for the commercialization of ART tomography.

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Towards an application of muon scattering tomography as a technique for detecting rebars in concrete

Cited by 10 publications

References 37 publications

Development of muon scattering tomography for a detection of reinforcement in concrete

Development of muon scattering tomography for a detection of reinforcement in concrete

Muon Tomography of the Interior of a Reinforced Concrete Block: First Experimental Proof of Concept

Atmospheric ray tomography for low-Z materials: implementing new methods on a proof-of-concept tomograph

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