TY - JOUR A1 - Chakraborty, J. A1 - Wang, Xin A1 - Stolinski, M. T1 - Damage Detection in Multiple RC Structures Based on Embedded Ultrasonic Sensors and Wavelet Transform N2 - This paper summarizes the results of research aimed at assessing cracks in reinforced concrete structures using embedded ultrasonic sensors. The diffuse ultrasonic waves were considered to evaluate the health status of the tested structures. There are different algorithms used to detect cracks in the structure, but most studies have been performed on benchmark reinforced concrete (RC) structures and in laboratory conditions. Since there were difficulties with the validity of Damage detection in real structures in the presence of environmental changes and noises, the application of advanced signal processing methods was necessary. Therefore, the wavelet transform was applied to process ultrasonic signals acquired from multiple civil structures. It is shown that the ultrasonic sensors with an applied wavelet transform algorithm on collected signals can successfully detect cracks in the laboratory as well as in a real environment. Experimental results showed a perfect match for detecting damage and quasi-static load in the presence of environmental changes. The results were confirmed with other techniques. In addition, designing an extra filter for removing noises can be avoided by using the applied algorithms. The obtained results confirmed that diffuse ultrasonic sensor methodology with the proposed algorithm is useful and effective in Monitoring real RC structures, and it is better than traditional techniques. KW - Ultrasound KW - Damage KW - Detection KW - Concrete KW - Wavelet PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-523089 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11020056 VL - 11 IS - 2 SP - 56 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-52308 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Wang, Xin A1 - Mierschke, Vivien A1 - Bertschat, Anja Sophie T1 - Concepts from seismic interferometry transferred to sonic and ultrasonic concrete inspection and monitoring N2 - Seismic interferometry (SI) deals either with the sensible detection of changes in the subsurface or with the reconstruction of virtual signals between two receivers by crosscorrelation of signals from diffuse sources. These concepts can be applied in NDT in civil engineering for various purposes, e. g. to detect changes in bridges. Here it is demonstrated using data from a reference structure on our test site. Practical applications can be expected in the very near future. T2 - 12th European Conference on Non-Destructive Testing (ECNDT 2018) CY - Gothenburg, Sweden DA - 11.6.2018 KW - Ultrasound KW - Concrete KW - Monitoring KW - Coda KW - Interferometry PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-468465 UR - http://www.ndt.net/?id=22760 SN - 1435-4934 VL - 23 IS - 8 SP - 1 EP - 2 PB - NDT.net CY - Kirchwald AN - OPUS4-46846 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Clauß, F. A1 - Epple, Niklas A1 - Ahrens, M. A. A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Mark, P. T1 - Comparison of Experimentally Determined Two-Dimensional Strain Fields and Mapped Ultrasonic Data Processed by Coda Wave Interferometry N2 - Due to the high sensitivity of coda waves to the smallest structural alterations such as strain, humidity or temperature changes, ultrasonic waves are a valid means to examine entire structures employing networks of ultrasonic transducers. In order to substantiate this ex ante assessment, the viability of measuring ultrasonic waves as a valid point of reference and inference for structural changes is to be further scrutinized in this work. In order to investigate the influence of mechanical strain on ultrasonic signals, a four-point bending test was carried out on a reinforced concrete beam at Ruhr University Bochum. Thus, measurements collected from a network of selected transducer pairings arranged across the central, shear-free segment of the test specimen, were correlated to their respective strain fields. Detected ultrasonic signals were evaluated employing Coda Wave Interferometry. Such analysis comprised the initial non-cracked state as well as later stages with incremental crack depth and quantity. It was to ascertain that the test specimen can in fact be qualitatively compartmentalized into areas of compression and tension identified via Relative Velocity Changes presented in Attribute Maps. However, since results did not entail a zero crossing, i.e., neither positive nor negative values were to be calculated, only relative changes in this work displayed staggered over the height of the object under test, are discussed. Under the given methodological premises, additional information is currently required to make quantitative assertions regarding this correlation of ultrasonic and strain results. This holds true for the comparability of the ultrasonic and strain results for both non-cracked and even the cracked state. KW - Digital image correlation KW - Fiber optic sensors KW - Coda Wave Interferometry KW - Ultrasound KW - Concrete PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-510501 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/s20144023 SN - 1424-8220 VL - 20 IS - 14 SP - Paper 4023, 1 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-51050 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Gardner, S. A1 - Kind, Thomas A1 - Kaiser, R. A1 - Grunwald, Marcel A1 - Yang, G. A1 - Redmer, Bernhard A1 - Waske, Anja A1 - Mielentz, Frank A1 - Effner, Ute A1 - Köpp, Christian A1 - Clarkson, A. A1 - Thompson, F. A1 - Ryan, M. A1 - Mahon, D. T1 - Muon Tomography of the Interior of a Reinforced Concrete Block: First Experimental Proof of Concept N2 - 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. KW - Concrete KW - Muon KW - Radar KW - Ultrasound KW - X-ray PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-529974 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10921-021-00797-3 VL - 40 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-52997 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wang, Xin A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Hindersmann, Iris T1 - The installation of embedded ultrasonic transducers inside a bridge to monitor temperature and load influence using coda wave interferometry technique N2 - This article presents a unique method of installing a special type of embedded ultrasonic transducers inside a 36-m-long section of an old bridge in Germany. A small-scale load test was carried out by a 16 ton truck to study the temperature and load influence on the bridge, as well as the performance of the embedded transducers. Ultrasonic coda wave interferometry technique, which has high sensitivity in detecting subtle changes in a heterogeneous medium, was used for the data evaluation and interpretation. The separation of two main influence factors (load effect and temperature variation) is studied, and future applications of wave velocity variation rate Φ for structural health condition estimation are discussed. As a preliminary research stage, the installation method and the performance of the ultrasonic transducer are recognized. Load- and temperature-induced weak wave velocity variations are successfully detected with a high resolution of 10−4%. The feasibility of the whole system for long-term structural health monitoring is considered, and further research is planned. KW - Ultrasound KW - Bridge KW - Monitoring KW - coda wave interferometry KW - embedded PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-527978 DO - https://doi.org/10.1177/14759217211014430 SN - 1475-9217 VL - 21 IS - 3 SP - 913 EP - 927 PB - SAGE AN - OPUS4-52797 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Büttner, C. A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Buske, S. A1 - Friedrich, C. T1 - Ultrasonic Echo Localization Using Seismic Migration Techniques in Engineered Barriers for NuclearWaste Storage N2 - In the framework of non-destructive-testing advanced seismic imaging techniques have been applied to ultrasonic echo data in order to examine the integrity of an engineered test-barrier designed to be used for sealing an underground nuclear waste disposal site. Synthetic data as well as real multi-receiver ultrasonic data acquired at the test site were processed and imaged using Kirchhoff prestack depth migration reverse time migration (RTM). In general, both methods provide a good Image quality as demonstrated by various case studies, however deeper parts within the test barrier containing inclined reflectors were reconstructed more accurately by RTM. In particular, the image quality of a specific target reflector at a depth of 8 m in the test-barrier has been significantly improved compared to previous investigations using synthetic aperture Focusing technique, which justifies the considerable computing time of this method. KW - Radioactive waste disposal KW - Engineered barrier KW - Ultrasound KW - Imaging KW - Crack detection PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-537956 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10921-021-00824-3 SN - 0195-9298 VL - 40 IS - 4 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-53795 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, T. A1 - Sens-Schönfelder, C. A1 - Epple, Niklas A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Imaging of Small-Scale Heterogeneity and Absorption Using Adjoint Envelope Tomography: Results From Laboratory Experiments N2 - To complement the information provided by deterministic seismic imaging at length scales above a certain resolution limit we present the first application of adjoint envelope tomography (AET) to experimental data. AET uses the full envelopes of seismic records including scattered coda waves to obtain information about the distribution of absorption and small-scale heterogeneity which provide complementary information about the investigated medium. Being below the resolution limit this small-scale structure cannot be resolved by conventional tomography but still affects wave propagation by attenuating ballistic waves and generating scattered waves. Using ultrasound data from embedded sensors in a meter-sized concrete specimen we image the distribution of absorption and heterogeneity expressed by the intrinsic quality factor Q−1 and the fluctuation strength ɛ that characterizes the strength of the heterogeneity. The forward problem is solved by modeling the 2-D multiple nonisotropic scattering in an acoustic medium with spatially variable heterogeneity and attenuation using the Monte-Carlo method. Gradients for the model updates are obtained by convolution with the back-propagated envelope misfit using the adjoint formalism in analogy to full waveform inversion. We use a late coda time window to invert for absorption and an earlier time window to infer the distribution of heterogeneity. The results successfully locate an area of salt oncrete with increased scattering and concentric anomalies of intrinsic attenuation. The resolution test shows that the recovered anomalies constitute reasonable representations of internal structure of the specimen. KW - Ultrasound KW - Scattering KW - Tomography KW - Concrete KW - Heterogeneity PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-563163 DO - https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JB024972 SN - 2169-9313 VL - 127 IS - 11 SP - 1 EP - 21 PB - American Geophysical Union AN - OPUS4-56316 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Epple, Niklas A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Fontoura Barroso, Daniel T1 - Coda Wave Interferometry for Monitoring Bridges with Embedded Ultrasonic Transducers – Lessons Learned at the Gänstorbrücke Bridge Ulm, Germany N2 - Ultrasonic Coda Wave interferometry has the potential to detect minute changes in scattering materials like concrete. By permanently installing ultrasonic transducers in concrete, DFG Research unit CoDA aims to develop methods for concrete damage assessment in Germany's aging infrastructure. To test the methods developed in simulations and laboratory experiments on a large scale, we have implemented several ultrasonic transducers at the Gänstorbrücke Ulm, one of Germany's most monitored road bridges. Since fall 2020 we are monitoring parts of the center of the Bridge, as well as an abutment, and compare the results to the commercial monitoring system. All data is recorded with a self-made data collection device, the so-called W-Box, and analyzed with different coda wave-based algorithms to detect signal and volumetric velocity changes. The long-term measurements show that the influence of temperature changes on strains and therefore ultrasound velocity changes calculated with coda waves can be monitored. The capabilities and limitations of the coda wave-based monitoring system are tested in a controlled experiment. Static loading using a truck with varying loads at several positions allows the calibration of the system to improve the detectability of possibly damaging loads and changes induced by this loading. A map of velocity change analyzing data from this load experiment shows that the influence of load on the material and strain distribution can be detected with array measurements. T2 - NDT-CE 2022 - The International Symposium on Nondestructive Testing in Civil Engineering CY - Zurich, Switzerland DA - 16.08.2022 KW - Coda Wave Interferometry KW - Ultrasound KW - Embedded sensors KW - Bridge Monitoring KW - Load Experiment PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-564531 SP - 1 EP - 8 AN - OPUS4-56453 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabe, U. A1 - Pudovikov, S. A1 - Herrmann, H.-G. A1 - Wiggenhauser, H. A1 - Prabhakara, Prathik A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Evaluation of retroreflective corner echo for detection of surface breaking cracks in concrete by ultrasound N2 - The retroreflective corner echo is used, for example, in ultrasonic non-destructive testing of metals to find fatigue cracks in tubes or shafts. If the much weaker crack tip signal is additionally detected, the crack length can also be determined. A corner reflection occurs in cases of surface breaking cracks with predominantly perpendicular orientation to the surface. The intensity of the corner reflection depends on the angle of incidence and on the ultrasonic wave mode used. For the reliable detection of vertical surface breaking cracks in metals, transversal waves are commonly used, which propagate at an angle of 37° to 53° to the inspection surface. As shown in this contribution, the wide spread low frequency ultrasonic arrays with dry point contact sources available for ultrasonic testing of concrete also allow to receive corner echoes. These devices generate transversal waves in concrete structures with a large divergence of the sound field. A series of experiments was carried out with such dry point contact arrays on concrete specimens with artificial test defects and controlled induced cracks of different depths. The ultrasonic time-of-flight signals were recorded, exported and reconstructed utilising the SAFT (Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique) algorithm. The SAFT reconstruction parameters were adjusted to visualize the corner echo indication. As will be shown, with this targeted processing, the reproducible detection of surface breaking cracks in concrete is possible. The retroreflective corner echo can thus be exploited in civil engineering for non-destructive inspection of concrete. T2 - NDT-CE 2022 CY - Zurich, Switzerland DA - 16.08.2022 KW - Concrete KW - Crack depth KW - Ultrasound KW - SAFT PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-563365 UR - https://www.ndt.net/article/ndtce2022/paper/27256_manuscript.pdf IS - 27256 SP - 1 EP - 4 PB - NDT.net AN - OPUS4-56336 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Landis, E. A1 - Hassefras, Emiel A1 - Oesch, Tyler A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - A Microstructural Basis for Diffuse Ultrasound in Concrete N2 - Attenuation of ultrasonic signals in concrete has the potential to carry much information about the microstructure of the material. In this work a series of concrete specimens of varying porosities and pore size distributions were internally imaged with x-ray computed tomography (CT), and then subsequently examined with throughtransmission ultrasound. The CT images were used to quantify both capillary porosity of cement paste as well as internal interfaces that are likely to produce elastic wave scattering. Ultrasound signals were represented as a diffusion process such that absorption and scattering attenuation could be isolated. As implemented, the diffusion model was a poor predictor of capillary porosity, while diffusivity was a reasonable predictor of scattering interfaces. Diffusivity was found to scale extremely well with small scale porosity, which made it a good predictor of compressive strength. T2 - NDT-CE 2022 CY - Zurich, Switzerland DA - 16.08.2022 KW - Concrete KW - X-ray tomography KW - Ultrasound PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-563371 UR - https://www.ndt.net/article/ndtce2022/paper/61592_manuscript.pdf SP - 1 EP - 4 PB - NDT.net AN - OPUS4-56337 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -